Peter Lowe (born 17 June 1938) is an English artist, born in Hackney, London. His work is systematic, constructivist and concrete. It is mainly exhibited and appreciated in Europe, where it is held in many national collections. [1]

Peter Lowe
Peter Lowe, 2008
Born (1938-06-17) 17 June 1938 (age 86)
Hackney, London
EducationGoldsmiths‘ College of Art
Occupation(s)Artist, Teacher
MovementConstructivist, Systems
SpouseTessa Smith (1938-2007)
Children2

Biography

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Lowe was originally inspired by Turner, his paintings gaining him entry into Goldsmiths‘ College of Art at the age of 16, where he was a student from 1954-60. Lowe was influenced by the Constructionists Kenneth Martin and Mary Martin, among others. He developed a preference for simple geometric shapes, which feature in most of his works. His early works include collage and rotational movement, while his later works include drawings, reliefs, computer prints and outdoor installations. [2]

After graduating, Lowe worked as a teacher at the Leeds College of Art with Harry Thubron from 1962 to 1964. He also assisted Kenneth Martin at the Barry Summer School in Wales, before starting to lecture at Goldsmiths‘ College in 1965, retiring from teaching there in 2000.[3]

 
Spiral of 8 Integers

Lowe was one of the founding members of the Systems Group who exhibited in Helsinki at the Systeemi•System exhibition in 1969. [4] [5] Since 1974 he has been a member of Arbeitskreis. [6]

Art historian Alan Fowler discusses Peter Lowe's systems work in his 2006 PhD thesis "Constructive Art in Britain 1913 - 2005".[7] Lowe is also mentioned in Alastair Grieve's 2005 book "Constructed Abstract Art in England After the Second World War: A Neglected Avant-Garde".[8] An interview with the artist by Fowler is given in the 2008 Southampton City Art Gallery exhibition catalogue "A Rational Aesthetic".[9]

Peter Lowe married Tessa Smith (1938-2007) in 1960. They had two children and he lives in Tulse Hill, London.[10]

Selected Exhibitions

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Solo

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1974 Gardner Centre, University of Sussex
Lucy Milton Gallery, London
1975 Galleria Primo Peano, Rome (with Norman Dilworth)
1980 Galeria Pavillion, Nowa Huta, Kraków
1981 Galerie Jeanne Buytaert, Antwerp
1987 Foranea, Vimercate, Monza, Italy
1990 Arte Struktura, Volume and Void, Milan
1991 Galerie Jeanne Buytaert, Antwerp
1994 Clare Hall Gallery, Cambridge
1999 Wellcome Institute of Neurology, London
2005 The Walk Gallery, London
2016 Waterhouse & Dodd, London

Group

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1957 Young Contemporaries, R.B.A. Galleries, London
1963 Six English Painters, Drian Galleries, London
Drian Artists, Drian Galleries
The Geometric Environment, A.I.A. Gallery, London
Plus Minus Inventions (with Colin Jones), A.I.A. Gallery
Construction England, Arts Council
1964 Then and Now, City Art Gallery, Leeds
1966 Relief Constructions, I.C.A., London
Constructions, Axiom Gallery, London
1969 Systeemi•Systems, Amos Anderson Taidemuseo, Helsinki [11]
1971 Matrix, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
1972 Systems, Whitechapel Gallery, London (and tour)
1973 Systems II, Polytechnic of Central London
1974 British Painting '74, Hayward Gallery, London
1976 Plus Minus, IAFKG/Southampton Art Gallery/Polytechnic of Central London
1980 Pier + Ocean: construction in the art of the seventies, Hayward Gallery, London [12]
1981 Malcolm Hughes, Peter Lowe, Alan Reynolds, Galerie Renée Ziegler, Zürich
Construction in Process, Budrem plant, ul. PKWM 37, Łodź, Poland
1984 Norman Dilworth, Peter Lowe, Kenneth Martin, Galerie Ornis, The Hague
1999 Anthony Hill, Jeffrey Steele, Peter Lowe, Galeria Stara, Lublin, Poland
2000 Hill, Lowe, Steele, Raczko, Winiarski, Stabinski, Kuchnia Galeria, Warsaw
2005 22 of the Future for the Future of Vukovar, Muzeum Sztuki, Łodź
2007 Towards a Rational Aesthetic: Constructive Art in Post-war Britain, Osborne Samuel gallery, London
2008 A Rational Aesthetic, Southampton City Art Gallery
2014 The Social Bases of Abstract Art, Updown Gallery, Ramsgate
2017 British Constructivism, Pallant House, Chichester, UK
2018 British Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London
2021 Rhythm and Geometry, UEA, Norwich

Works in Public Collections

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  • Arts Council Collection London
  • Victoria and Albert Museum London
  • Musée de Grenoble
  • Museo de Arte Moderno, Fundacion Soto, Cuidad BolÌvar, Venezuela
  • University of East Anglia
  • National Museum Warsaw
  • Peter Stuyvesant Foundation Amsterdam
  • Kemin Kaupunki Taidesmuseo, Kemi. Finland
  • Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam
  • Alvar Alto Foundation, Pino Torinesi, Turin
  • Museum of Modern Art Zagreb
  • Commanderie Sint Jan, Nijmegen
  • Museum of Art, Chelm, Poland
  • Tate Britain
  • Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort. Holland
  • Peter C. Ruppert Collection, Würzburg
  • Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

References

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  1. ^ "Peter Lowe". Peter Lowe. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Peter Lowe". Peter Lowe. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Peter Lowe". Peter Lowe. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. ^ Fowler, Alan (2006), Constructivist Art in Britain 1913-2005, Winchester School of Art
  5. ^ Chilvers, Ian; Glaves-Smith, John (2009), Oxford Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art, Oxford University Press
  6. ^ internationaler arbeitskreis für konstruktive gestaltung
  7. ^ Fowler, Alan (2006), Constructivist Art in Britain 1913-2005, Winchester School of Art
  8. ^ Grieve, Alastair (2005), Constructed Abstract Art in England After the Second World War: A Neglected Avant-Garde, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-10703-6
  9. ^ Fowler, Alan (2008), A Rational Aesthetic, Southampton City Art Gallery
  10. ^ "Peter Lowe". Peter Lowe. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Systeemi.Systems". Internet Archive. Amos Anderson Taidemuseo. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. ^ "PIER+OCEAN". Arts & Culture. 8 May – 22 June 1980. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  • Lemoine, Serge (2000). Art Concret (in French). Paris: Espace de l’Art Concret/Réunion des musées nationaux. ISBN 2-7118-4069-7.
  • Dictionnaire de la Peinture Anglaise et Americaine, Larousse 1991, ISBN 2-03-740065-9
  • Jonneke Jobse. De Stijl Continued. The Journal Structure (1958–1964) An Artists' Debate. 010 Publishers, Rotterdam 2005. ISBN 90-6450-577-2
  • ISBN 978-83-63820-01-5 Correspondences Modern Art and Universalism, Muzeum Sztuki 2012
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