Ray Lowry – London Calling

Posted by Rebekah Roy on June 17th, 2010

RayLowry LondonCalling 037 Ray Lowry London Calling

I went to a retrospective to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ‘London Calling’ album, the life of Ray Lowry and the launch of the Ray Lowry Foundation.

It’s hard to know why something is iconic but we know it when we see "London Calling". Lowry created the artwork for the London Calling album sleeve, using a photograph by Pennie Smith.

RayLowry LondonCalling 027 Ray Lowry London Calling RayLowry LondonCalling 028 Ray Lowry London Calling

Lowry was a cartoonist, illustrator and satirist, his work was published in NME, Private Eye, Fun City, The Face and The Guardian. He was was also a painter of urban landscapes using oils and water colours (LS Lowry was his unrelated namesake).

RayLowry LondonCalling 034 Ray Lowry London Calling

The exhibition includes the work of 30 artists, including Tracey Emin, Nick Hornby, Billy Childish, Harry Hill, Paul Simonon and Humphrey Ocean, who created reinterpretations of The Clash’s ‘London Calling’ album cover. Ray Lowry was a self taught artist and The Ray Lowry Foundation was set up in his name to provide financial assistance and mentoring to talented students unable to afford further training. All of the work of the 30 artists will be auctioned off to raise money for the foundation.

RayLowry LondonCalling 041 Ray Lowry London Calling