Rick Lowe’s extensive body of work in painting, drawing, and installation is paired with numerous collaborative projects, undertaken in the spirit and tradition of “social sculpture.”  

Rick Lowe was born in 1961 in rural Russell County, Alabama, and lives and works in Houston, Texas. He is currently a professor of interdisciplinary practice at the University of Houston and is represented by Gagosian Gallery worldwide. 

Working closely with individuals and communities, Lowe has identified myriad ways to exercise creativity in the context of everyday activities, harnessing it to explore concerns around equity and justice. Through such undertakings, he cofounded Project Row Houses in Houston’s Third Ward, a historically significant and culturally charged African American neighborhood. Conceived in collaboration with other artists, neighbors and creative thinkers, Project Row Houses transformed a small area of derelict shotgun houses into a vibrant cultural district. To this day, the project continues to unite groups and pool resources, manifesting sustainable opportunities for artists, young mothers, small businesses, and local residents. 

Rick has taken his innovative approach to community development through art to projects around the world. Lowe’s involvement with numerous community art projects includes Project Row Houses, Houston, Texas (1993–2018); Watts House Project, Los Angeles, California (1996–2012); Borough Project (with Suzanne Lacy and Mary Jane Jacob), Charleston, South Carolina (2003); Small Business/Big Change, Anyang Public Art Program, Anyang, South Korea (2010); Trans.lation, Dallas, Texas (2013); Victoria Square Project, Athens, Greece (2017–18); Greenwood Art Project, Tulsa, Oklahoma (2018–21); and Black Wall Street Journey, Chicago, Illinois (2021–). 

Collections include the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas; Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; de Young Museum, San Francisco, California; and the UBS Art Collection. Solo exhibitions include Art League Houston (2020–21). He also participated in Documenta 14, Athens (2017). 

Among other accolades, Rick has received The Heinz Award in the arts and humanities (2002), the Creative Time Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change (2010), was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Council on the Arts (2013),and earned the MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship (2014).