Typical of Lowman's wall collages, this work pairs images of iconic tabloid celebrities "stolen" from American popular culture to create explosive new narratives. Suiting the brash sources of his inspiration, Lowman's aesthetic is slipshod and casual. he layers photocopied images and distorted silkscreen transfers of infamous blonds, assembling an improbable cast of tragic women. other than their hair color, the women's most striking commonality is the media's obsessive exploitation of their scandals. Lowman creates an unsettling new history in which the victim-as-pinup-girl (Nicole Simpson) is absurdly connected to the brash, collectively maligned aggressor (Lizzie Grubman) by the sport utility vehicles featured in both women's demoralizing tales. Lowman injects humor into this gruesome landscape of American popular consumption through ironic and provocative one-liners and bumper-sticker "paintings" that further distort our collective memory of these sensational stories.
Gallery label from Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.
