In Focus Podcast
Episode 58
He began to transition from advertising to writing and painting …partially prompted by the return of racism into advertising.
Lowell Thompson
Welcome painter and “recovering adman” and Chicago native Lowell Thompson to In-Focus Podcast Number 58. Lowell began creating ads and commercials for some of America’s biggest ad agencies and companies. He was one of the first African Americans hired into a top 10 ad agency following the riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968.
Lowell Thompson refers to himself as a “recovering adman” because he spent so much of his spent career in advertising. He began to transition from advertising to writing and painting in the late 90s because, as he says, he was, “partially prompted by the return of racism into advertising. In fact, my first published writing was an expose I did on the subject in 1993 entitled The Invisible Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.”
It was around the year 2000 that he began painting seriously again. In 2014, he was the subject of an article in the Chicago Tribune called Lowell Thompson on ‘RaceMan Answers’. Lowell is also the author of African Americans in Chicago (Images of America)
Lowell is connected to the Southcoast through his acquaintance with Ron Fortier and, New Bedford native and renowned photographer Anthony Barboza. He lives in and maintains his studio in Chicago, Illinois.
Listen in on his conversation as The Artist Index’s host, Ron Fortier delves more into Lowell’s life, his work, and his political and cultural projects. This episode was recorded with Zoom during the pandemic of 2020. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR THE PODCAST LINK or LISTEN HERE! (new episodes are added a short time after being posted here)
The whole concept of The Artists Index and the journey we are on is are still in the making and very organic. And, at this critical time in our country’s history, challenged by the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have continued to podcast remotely, assisted by Zoom, in order to assure that our guests remain safe and, in the comfort of their home.
If you would like to be a guest or, have a suggestion, please let us know!
Lowell Thompson
Chicago, Illinois
This In-Focus podcast episode is made possible with the support of Heavenly Spirits, who invites you to celebrate the art of life and creative communities everywhere.
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