Ray Lowry

Ray Lowry (28 August 1944 – 14 October 2008) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and satirist, possessing a highly distinctive style and wit. He contributed to The Guardian, Private Eye, Punch, Tatler and NME, among many other publications. In his later years he lived in Rossendale, Lancashire.

Life and work Lowry was born the son of a bricklayer in Cadishead, Salford, and attended Urmston Grammar School. He worked in Manchester and London, and, although he had no formal art education, he became known as a cartoonist during the 1970s. It was less well known that he was also a painter of urban landscapes, following in the footsteps of his unrelated namesake L. S. Lowry.

The Ray Lowry Foundation The Ray Lowry Foundation was set up in 2009 by Lowry's son, Sam, and Julian Williams and Jackie Taylor of the See Gallery. The aim of the Foundation is to ensure that his work will be remembered and appreciated, and to create a fund in his name that will provide financial assistance and mentorship to individuals and art projects. This will include providing a scholarship to a student studying a course in art for a higher degree and making financial awards linked to individual art projects.

The Foundation has helped with placing Lowry's work as part of an exhibition about Malcolm Lowry at the BlueCoat Gallery, Liverpool, and a major public exhibition of Ray Lowry's own work at the Salford Gallery and Museum in December 2009. A major exhibition was planned for Leeds in 2010.

A retrospective of Ray Lowry's work was held at the Idea Generation Gallery, London, from 18 June to 4 July 2010, in aid of The Ray Lowry Foundation. As part of the exhibition Tracey Emin, Nick Hornby, Billy Childish, Harry Hill, Paul Simonon, Humphrey Ocean and 23 others contributed works and many produced reinterpretations of Ray Lowry's sleeve for London Calling (see above) in aid of the Foundation.

After several years, work on the Ray Lowry Foundation project came to a halt due to personal issues and Sam's near fatal battle with alcoholism. All things regarding Ray's work were somewhat stalled until 2021.

Selected bibliography Collections of his work Only Rock 'n' Roll 1980 This Space to Let 1986 Ink 1998

As an illustrator The Penguin Book of Rock and Roll Writing 1992 Rock Talk 1994 Funny Talk 1995 A Riot of our Own: Night and Day with The "Clash" 1997