Ep 58: 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.

Music courtesy of www.bensound.com