Kevin Lowry

Kevin Lowery

W O R D S B Y G A B B Y L O V A Z Z A N O

LAYER, LAYER, LAYERS. THAT IS WHAT ARTIST KEVIN LOWRY IS ALL ABOUT.

WE ARE FEATURING HIM IN THIS SPREAD TO HIGHLIGHT HIS PAINTING SKILLS, ALTHOUGH, TO NO SURPRISE HE ALSO HAS A TALENT FOR EYEING, SOURCING AND WEARING VINTAGE FASHION AND HAS A KNACK FOR CREATING ABSTRACT SPACES THAT YOU WOULD FIND AT THE COOLEST WAREHOUSE PARTIES AND FESTIVALS. KEVIN IS ORIGINALLY FROM THE BAY AREA, NOW RESIDING IN LOS ANGELES. HE FIRST STARTED PAINTING IN ACRYLIC AROUND 2010. PAINTING ABSTRACT PSYCHEDELIC GEOMETRIC SHAPES, PATTERNS, FIGURES, LANDSCAPES...THE WORKS...JUST PRACTICING, WORKING TOWARDS SOMETHING UNKNOWN. HIS STYLE HAS CHANGED MANY TIMES OVER THE YEARS, IT SEEMS THAT HIS STYLE OF ART IS A REPRESENTATION OF WHERE HE IS AT AND WHAT HE IS ABOUT AT THAT TIME IN HIS LIFE. LIKE MOST ARTIST AND PEOPLE, I FEEL WE ALL ABSORB PIECES AND DETAILS FROM OUR SURROUNDINGS AND THOSE DETAILS END UP MOLDING AND SHAPING WHO WE ARE AS INDIVIDUALS. YOU CAN SEE THIS CLEARLY IN KEVINS WORK.

Check out more from Kevin Lowry and his work with Chewing Foil www.linktr.ee | www.instagram.com/lowrydointhangs

When Kevin moved to Oakland, California, he had entered into a part of his life that felt more “raw” to him than his past experiences. He was surrounded by Graffiti that covered freeway overpasses and livied in a place that felt like a post apocalyptic multiverse. Around 2012 Kevin started to explore a different aesthetic and new concepts that were inspiring him. He moved out of old paradigms and started to get really into vintage from the late 80s to the early 2000’s.

This led to working with a new medium. After exploring different techniques with acrylics for years, he decided to move to oil painting. Realizing he really enjoyed the process even when difficult. He was now able to achieve smoother transitions, better color, softer blends, and finer detail. Figuring out how much detail he can achieve with oil, he moved into a more photo realistic approach literally and figuratively blending and layering his styles together.

It wasn’t until 2017 when Kevin moved to Los Angeles, that he began to really push his style into a whole new direction. Mixing photo realism with specific aesthetics from his childhood producing work that re-represented himself and his background. By mixing his love for vintage aesthetics and new current flavors with surrealist ideals, he works to represent dreamscapes of nostalgia.

This oil painting titled “////cd BETA.Rose&Chrome1.0\\\\” was originally modeled from a drawing he did in a CGI 3D rendering program to create a complex image reference, then painted in oil over the coarse of 6 months. Mixing computer software with 90s aesthetics he then strives to create photo realistic oil painted renders.

Kevins work will trick your mind. You know you’re staring at a work of art and at the same time you’re not sure if it was painted or printed. Thats the kind of skill we’re talking about. Layer after layer, ever evolving.