Artist's Biography

Lowry is a visual artist living and working in Philadelphia. Using mixed media, she finds the practice of dismantling and assembling hybrid surfaces leads to unexpected outcomes. Drawing and painting are integrated with found and manipulated images. Her early work reflects the influence of Renaissance narrative painting, where time and events compress in a single frame. This theme of simultaneous this and that persists in her current practice. Sequence, framing, and context defy linear thinking. Lowry strives for a degree of awkwardness to heighten emotional or empathetic responses. Themes spring from an urge to find solace in memory, and experience while remaining anchored by a connection to place. Often, themes of abrupt change or gradual awareness are evident.

Lowry received her BFA from Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), and her BA from Kirkland College (now Hamilton College). Her work is included in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Woodmere Museum, and Aramark Corporation.

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Education

1977

Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA

BFA, Painting

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1975

Kirkland College, Clinton, NY

BA, Studio Art

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Awards & Honors

Ballinglen Arts Foundation Fellowship, Ireland

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship Grant

Venture Fund Fellowship, University of the Arts

Artist in Residence, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Museum of Art Crafts Show Award for Excellence in Design

Artist in Residence, Artpark Summer Residency Program, Lewiston, NY

Artist in Residence, Sacred Heart Academy Teaching Residency, Chicago, IL

Western Savings Fund Award, Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia

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Bibliography

Publications

The Female Gaze, Women Artists Making Their World. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2012

Contemporary Philadelphia Artists, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1990

Good As Gold: Alternative Materials in American Jewelry, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 1981

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Professional Experience

Art Department Chair, Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia, PA

Upper School Art Faculty, Germantown Friends School, Foundation, Color & Design, 3D Design, Art History, Senior Studio

Senior Lecturer, Painting Department, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Fine Art Instructor, Architecture and Design Summer Program, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

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Exhibitions

Solo & Two-Person

1990 

Susan Lowry and Sarah McIlhenny, Morris Gallery, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1989 

Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1985 

Susan Chrysler White and Susan Lowry, Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1981 

Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Group

2022 

Woodmere Museum 80th Annual Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA

Curators: Michelle Angela Ortiz and Jose Ortiz-Pagan

2018 

Just In: Recent Acquisitions on Sculpture and Relief, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

2014 

Selections from the Charles Knox Smith Collection, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

2012 

The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1995 

Realm of Morpheus, Nexus Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

1993 

Biennial, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE

1991 

Visionary Healing, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE

1990 

Contemporary Philadelphia Artists, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Jurors: Martha Chahroudi, Anne d’Harnoncourt, Marge Goldwater, Doug Hall, Phillip M. Johnston, Howardena Pindell, Allan Stone

1989 

Challenge Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

1986 

21 Artists, Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY