Photographed by Joeff Davis

Photographed by Joeff Davis

ABOUT

Karen Comer Lowe | BIO

Karen Comer Lowe serves as the Curator in Residence at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. With a passion for the arts and more than 20+ years of experience in museums, galleries, and arts institutions, she has held directorial, curatorial, and educational roles at notable organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, the Tubman Museum of African American Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Recently, she curated two artists for the inaugural 2024 Atlanta Art Fair.

As a curator, Karen is an advocate of 20th-/21st-century art by artists of the Black diaspora. She curated exhibitions like "African American Abstraction" (2000) at City Gallery East, which featured the art of abstract works of Mildred Thompson and Frank Bowling in dialogue. She also organized the first stop on Hank Willis Thomas's national tour of Questionbridge (2012).

Karen's various roles as an art advisor, curator, educator, and collector are part of her multidisciplinary approach to preserving and sharing work by artists of the Black diaspora. She has curated exhibitions for artists such as Amy Sherald, Rashid Johnson, Radcliffe Bailey, Carrie Mae Weems, Ming Smith, and Elizabeth Catlett. She has also lectured on contemporary artists, collecting art, and art movements throughout the United States. She currently teaches art history and curatorial studies classes at Spelman College as part of the AUC Art Collective cohort.

During the pandemic, Karen worked with internationally known artist Hank Willis Thomas to place the "All Power to All People" sculpture in Atlanta as a stop on its tour throughout the US. She also participated in conversations on panels with artists and creatives, including Genevieve Gaignard, Sheila Pree Bright, Sanford Biggers, Radcliffe Bailey, and more.

Services

  • Curatorial concept and design for traditional and nontraditional spaces

  • Implementation of conversations with artists and arts professionals for educational purposes

  • Art advisory services tailored for private, corporate, hospitality, and public institutions

  • Available for lectures/workshops about artists, art movements, and collecting art


    Clients

    1. Spelman College

    2. The Atlanta Contemporary

    3. Orange Barrel Media

    4. A&E Atlanta Downtown

    5. Baker McKenzie LLP

    6. Kindred Arts

    7. The Nsoro Foundation