Lawrence Beck
Biography
(American, b. 1962)
Lawrence Beck was born in 1962 in New York, where he currently lives and works. A graduate of the State University of New York (SUNY), at the College at Purchase, he completed his studies at Columbia University where he studied film, French language and culture.
Known worldwide for his botanic photographs, Beck focuses on still-life images. Some of his photographs refer explicitly to different moments of art history: Dutch paintings from the 17th century, through to large-scale tulips portraits, and Impressionist paintings from 19th century, with water lilies. In his black and white series, he pays significant attention to picture grains, light effects, and contrasts to enhance the idea of nature imitating art.
Though Beck was born and raised in New York City, the quintessential urban environment, his fascination with nature originates from spending most of his summers in the Italian Alps, where, he says,
“nature is above you, under you and to both sides. Playing in the torrents, or climbing mountains and studying the visuals around me, ingrained an admiration for the order in nature, structure, subtlety, and complexions found everywhere you look.”
Beck’s photography explores the layers of today’s landscapes. In his work we can appreciate a visual reconciliation between the harsh realities of contemporary life and the aesthetic tradition of the genre. Of his work, the artist comments that
“nature in any form, be it cultivated in the botanical garden, or wild at 2,600 meters, remains one of the most spiritually-loaded sources of inspiration, and must retain a high degree of reverence from all people, urban included”. - Lawrence Beck.
The artist has held several solo exhibitions in many institutions around the world, in New York, NY; Metropolis in Lyon, France; in Los Angeles, CA; in Brussels, Belgium; in Seoul, Korea; and e in Montreal, Canada. He has participated in group exhibitions, including Art Basel in Switzerland, Brussels Art Fair, Cologne Art Fair, and Paris Photo.