Rachel Owen
Owen in 2012
Born
Rachel Mary Owen

30 November 1968
Cardiff, Wales
Died18 December 2016(2016-12-18) (aged 48)
SpouseThom Yorke
Children2
Websiterachel-owen.co.uk

Rachel Mary Owen (30 November 1968 – 18 December 2016) was a Welsh photographer, printmaker and lecturer on medieval Italian literature. She was married to the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke; they announced their separation in 2015.

Life and career

Owen was born in Cardiff, Wales.[1] She received a B.A. (Hons) in Italian and Fine Art (Painting), specialising in Printmaking, from the University of Exeter.[2] In the 1990s, she lived in Florence with two students and studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence, where she fell in love with Dante's work.[3] In 2001, Owen received a PhD from the University of London, where her research was on the illustrations in manuscripts of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.[4]

Owen was a lecturer in Italian with a focus on medieval Italian literature, where she examined illustration and its reception in Divine Comedy.[5] She taught art history and Dante studies for visiting students at the University of Oxford.[6]

Owen was also a fine-art printmaker[7] and a member of the Oxford Printmakers Co-operative.[8] She mixed photography with printmaking[4] and her work explored ideas of transformation using photographic screenprints.[9] Her artwork was used on the cover of the 1993 Radiohead single "Pop Is Dead".[10]

Personal life

For 23 years, Owen was in a relationship with the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, whom she met while they were students at the University of Exeter.[11][12][13] She and Yorke had a son, Noah, born in 2001, and a daughter, Agnes, born in 2004.[14] Owen influenced the lyrics of Radiohead songs such as "I Might Be Wrong"[15] and "Optimistic".[16]

In 2012, Rolling Stone reported that Owen and Yorke were not married.[17] However, The Times later found that they had married in a secret ceremony in Oxfordshire in May 2003.[18] In August 2015, the couple announced they had separated amicably "after 23 highly creative and happy years".[19] Several critics believed the separation influenced the lyrics of Radiohead's 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool.[20][21][22]

Death

Owen died of cancer on 18 December 2016 at the age of 48.[13] She continued to teach Italian into her final months.[23] Radiohead dedicated the 2017 OKNOTOK reissue of their 1997 album OK Computer to her memory.[24]

Works

Books

  • Rachel Owen: Illustrations for Dante's 'Inferno'. Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2021. Edited by David Bowe. ISBN 978-1851245703.

Exhibitions

  • 2015: Ballon Rouge Art, Thame, Oxfordshire, England, 7–15 November 2015[25]

Papers

References

  1. ↑ Gurpreet Narwan, Fariha Karim (24 December 2016). "Marriage secret of Radiohead star and the woman he lost to cancer". The Times. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Art Exhibition 'Rachel Owen: The Inferno Illustrations'". www.pmb.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Paloscia, Fulvio (23 September 2012). "Rachel, l'altra artista di casa Yorke "A Firenze mi innamorai di Dante"". la Repubblica (in Italian). Firenze.
  4. 1 2 Slawson, Nicola (20 December 2016). "Thom Yorke's ex-partner Rachel Owen dies at 48". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Dr Rachel Owen (1968–2016)". Pembroke College, Oxford. 19 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Owen, Rachel; Calè, Luisa (2007). "The Image of Dante, Poet and Pilgrim". In Braida, Antonella (ed.). Dante on View: The Reception of Dante in the Visual and Performing Arts. London: Ashgate. pp. 83–94. ISBN 978-0-7546-5896-2. OCLC 83609616.
  7. ↑ "Rachel Owen: Biography". RachelOwen.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008.
  8. ↑ Ray, Emily (20 December 2016). "Dr. Rachel Owen: 1968–2016. Partner of Radiohead's Thom Yorke Was Accomplished Printmaker". Paste.
  9. ↑ Owen, Rachel. "Rachel Owen: Artist Statement". Oxford Printmakers Co-operative.
  10. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (15 January 2009). "Radiohead's First Three Albums Reissued with Extras". Spin.
  11. ↑ Randall, Mac (2012). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story (Updated 4th ed.). Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-458-47147-5. OCLC 946707168.
  12. ↑ Binelli, Mark (7 February 2008). "The Future According to Radiohead: How they ditched the record business and still topped the charts". Rolling Stone.
  13. 1 2 Vincent, Alice (20 December 2016). "Thom Yorke's ex-partner, Rachel Owen, dies aged 48". The Daily Telegraph.
  14. ↑ McLean, Craig (17 June 2006). "Thom Yorke: 'It's not my job to do business with politicians'". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ Kent, Nick (June 2001). "Happy now?". Mojo. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  16. ↑ Cavanagh, David (October 2000). "I Can See The Monsters". Q: 96–104.
  17. ↑ Fricke, David (26 April 2012). "Radiohead reconnect". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Narwan, Gurpreet; Karim, Fariha (24 December 2016). "Marriage secret of Radiohead star and the woman he lost to cancer". The Times. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "Thom Yorke and Rachel Owen announce separation". NME. 15 August 2015.
  20. ↑ Hughes, Tim (20 December 2016). "Tribute paid to Dr Rachel Owen, artist, academic and former partner of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, who has died". Oxford Mail.
  21. ↑ Leight, Elias (20 December 2016). "Dr. Rachel Owen, Former Partner of Thom Yorke, Dead at Age 48". Rolling Stone.
  22. ↑ Larson, Jeremy D. (9 May 2016). "Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool: The 5 Most Important Things To Know". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Mohdin, Aamna (22 September 2019). "Thom Yorke: how I coped with ex-partner's death". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  24. ↑ Cook-Wilson, Winston (22 June 2017). "Radiohead's OKNOTOK Dedicated to Thom Yorke's Late Partner Rachel Owen". Spin. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  25. ↑ "Thom Yorke's Ex-Partner Rachel Owen Loses Her Battle With Cancer". viveremilano.biz. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017.
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