Jean Lowe
Installation view. 2014
Ephemera (Lost Dog). 2013
Casein on paper
19 1/4 x 14 3/4"
(JL14 01)
Ephemera (Lost Time). 2013
Acrylic, watercolor on paper
22 1/4 x 18 1/4"
(JL14 02)
Ephemera (Brown Bear Eats Man). 2013
Acrylic, watercolor on paper
17 3/4 x 9 1/4"
(JL14 03)
Ephemera (Oh thank heaven!). 2013
Sign painters enamel on polymetal
35 x 26 3/4"
(JL14 04)
Catalogue Cover (Ephemera). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 05)
Auction Page (Elixir). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 06)
Auction Page (Lost Time). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 33"
(JL14 07)
Auction Pages (A Child's Scrapbook). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 33"
(JL14 08)
Auction Page (Licenses). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 09)
Auction Page (Clipping). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 10)
Auction Page (Phone Book). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 11)
Catalogue Cover (Manuscripts). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 12)
Auction Page (Posterity Poem). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 13)
Auction Pages (Letter to MCA). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2
(JL14 14)
Auction Page (Hotel Poet). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 15)
Auction Page (Letter From a Son). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 16)
Auction Page (Poem For a Great Gal). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 17)
Auction Page (Letter To the Editor). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 18)
Auction Page (Manuscript). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 19)
Auction Page (Dr’s Notes: Midlife Transition). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 20)
Auction Page (Dr’s Notes: Lively Session). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 21)
Auction Page (Dr’s Notes: Consultation). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 22)
Installation view. 2014
Catalogue Cover (Contemporary Photography). 2013
Lightjet print on paper, mounted on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 23)
Catalogue Cover (Antiquities). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 24)
Catalogue Cover (Old Master Paintings, Part II). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 25)
Catalogue Cover (American Books, Part I). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 26)
Catalogue Cover (Vintage Collectables). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 27)
Catalogue Cover (American Books, Part II). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 28)
Catalogue Cover (Fine Americana, Part I). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 29)
Auction Lots (Fine Americana: Plates). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
48 x 36”
(JL14 30)
Auction Lots (Fine Americana, Part II). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
48 x 36”
(JL14 31)
Catalogue Cover (Fine Americana, Part II). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
21 x 16 1/2"
(JL14 32)
Poster (Contemporary Photography). 2013
Lightjet print on paper, mounted on polymetal
30 x 25”
(JL14 33)
Travel Poster (San Francisco). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
28 x 22”
(JL14 34)
Travel Poster (California). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
28 x 22”
(JL14 35)
Folding Chairs, Paddle and Cup. 2013
Cardboard, papier mache, sign painters enamel
Open chair: 29 x 18 3/4 x 24 1/2”, folded chair: 18 1/2 x 38 x 7 1/4”, paddle: 10 1/4 x 8 1/4”, cup: 2 1/2 x 5 x 4"
(JL14 37)
Flyer (Sad). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
26 x 20”
(JL14 38)
Flyer (Crazy). 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
26 x 20”
(JL14 39)
Tear Stains Be Gone. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
24 1/2 x 20 1/2"
(JL14 40)
Installation view. 2014
Business and Career. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 41)
Motivation and Self Help. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 42)
Religion and New Age. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 43)
Animal Kingdom. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 44)
Men’s Interest. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 45)
Lifestyle. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 46)
Food and Wine. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 47)
Advice and How To. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 48)
Nonfiction and Reference. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 49)
Religion and Spirituality. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 50)
Women’s Health and Wellness. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 51)
Nonfiction. 2013
Inkjet print on polymetal
54 x 37 1/2"
(JL14 52)
Poster (Contemporary Drawing). 2013
Lightjet print on paper mounted on polymetal
41 3/4 x 36"
(JL14 53)
A Career in Health Care. 2011
Enamel on papier mache
12 3/4 x 10 1/4 x 2 3/4"
(JL14 54)
In her newest exhibition at Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Jean Lowe continues her playful investigation of what separates the valueless from the rarified through an elevated presentation of ephemera. Here, in Lowe’s exhibition which is wrought with her usual humor and irony, the two East galleries are transformed into the suggestion of one of the most significant forces in which the worth of an object is formed: the auction house.
The main gallery features oversized “pages” from the catalogues of both an ephemera and manuscript auction. Antique letters, snake oil ads of modern day products, obsolete phonebooks, expired driver’s licenses and other commonplace items are presented as if for auction, creating a stage for a musing on vanity, change, and the passage of time. The second East gallery features various imagined catalogue covers (Fine Americana, Contemporary Photography, Old Master Paintings, etc.), and a display of related lots.
The West gallery will house an installation of a library with a digitalized rendering of the papier-mache books Lowe has been fabricating since 1994. Loosely modeled on the iBookstore format, this categorized library, with sections ranging from Food and Wine to Religion and Spirituality, comments on various aspects of contemporary culture.
While not without actual painting and sculpture, this new body of work is largely print based and text dependent. Collage, re-realized painting and sculpture, digitally generated imagery and found objects are stewed together on low boil.
In her representation of the auction arena, Lowe comments on today’s notion of value itself: what it is, how it is constructed, of what and by whom.