User:Thecornkid/sandbox/Kim Beck

Kim Beck (b. 1970, Colorado) is an American artist living and working in New York City and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beck works in multimedia, focussing her attention on subjects that might otherwise be overlooked. She is especially known for her public artworks.

Beck's work has been reviewed by media such as Artforum, Art in America , Hyperallergic , KQED , The New York Times , The Village Voice.

Adjutant, 2015
Adjutant is a temporary mural installed on the concrete wall beneath the 10th Street Bypass ramp for the Fort Duquesne Bridge in Pittsburg, PA. The mural is composed of images of oversized common weeds using silhouettes in shades of black, gray and white. The mural is inspired by a riverfront scene described by Henry David Thoreau in his 1906 journal: "There they stood in the midst of the open river on this shallow and weedy bar in the sun the leisurely sentries lazily pluming themselves as if the day were too long for them. They gave a new character to the stream. Adjutant they were to my idea of the river, these two winged men.” A team of some 150 volunteers organized by Riverlife Pittsburgh executed the work June 6–14, 2015, during the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival. The mural is part of #TBD, a concept for two public art projects that will bring dramatic changes and attention to the downtown Allegheny riverfront underneath the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

The Sky Is the Limit/NYC, 2011
The Sky Is the Limit/NYC, consisted of fleeting messages from advertising billboards and storefront signage written by a skywriting plane over Manhattan. Executed October 10, 2011, phrases like “Last Chance” or “Now Open” gradually unfolded, and then faded back into the air, inviting viewers to interpret the language in their own unique way. With the uncertainty in the economy, The Sky Is the Limit/NYC was intended to play upon universal longings for hope and change by engaging the most potent symbol of longing in the landscape: the sky.

“We don’t really know what’s happening in our economy,” Ms. Beck said. “I’m hoping there’s an optimism in that final text, and that it comes together as a bit of a narrative. That’s my hope; to think positive.”

Space Available, 2011–2012
Space Available, was installed March 4, 2011 – January 2012 on rooftops along Washington Street, between West 13th Street and Gansevoort Street in [New York City]. Intended to be viewed from the High Line, the exhibition was commissioned by Friends of the High Line.

Exhibition & Public Collections
Beck has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the US and abroad, and her work is in the collections of numerous public collections.

Professional Affiliations
Beck is an associate professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University