"My paintings represent an interest I have in the traditional image of the United States - particularily the notion of the "American Dream" and how we go about finding it or losing it. I am inspired by this long held American notion along with a more sober perspective of present-day America: a country that often appears lost, searching and in opposition to its founding principals. I try to make beautiful paintings which convey in a subtle way certain glorifications or realities of our life in America. I admire the works of Flannery O'Connor, Charles Burchfield, Walker Evans, Edward Hopper, Robert Cottingham and others who, in my opinion, succeed at interpreting commonplace American objects and people that can sometimes be overlooked. These artists have greatly influenced my paintings and through my work I attempt to create with their same honesty by illuminating certain American conditions. I am particularly interested in the simple forms of older American buildings and the universal symbol of a home. In painting, a home is a point of departure for me. It is a vehicle to express serenity, belonging, rootedness, a sad memory or even a self made prison."

-- Mark Beck

Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Beck studied at the Portland School of Art in Maine. For four years Beck worked teaching inmates to paint at the maximum security prison The California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2005 Cline Fine Art (April 7 - May 7)
2004 Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
Vault Gallery, Cambria, CA
Peter Blake Gallery, LAguna Beach, CA
2003 Peter Blake Gallery
2002 Peter Blake Gallery
Vault Gallery
2001 Peter Blake Gallery
2000 Vault Gallery
Peter Blake Gallery
1999 Peter Blake Gallery
Vault Gallery
The Arts Fund Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA Solo Exhibit
1998 Peter Blake Gallery
1997 Peter Blake Gallery
Vault Gallery
1996 Mendenhall Gallery - Pasadena, California
1995 Mendenhall Gallery
Vault Gallery
1994 Mendenhall Gallery
1993 Mendenhall Gallery
Gallery Hanku, Osaka Japan
Just Looking Gallery, San Luis Obispo, California
1992 Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
1991 Diane Nelson Gallery
1990 Diane Nelson Gallery
California State University, Julian A. McPhee Gallery, San Luis Obispo, California

GROUP SHOWS

2004 Chicago Art at the Navy Pier
2003 Millicent Rogers Museum, 14th Annual Juried Portrait Show, Taos, NM
2003 Albuquerque Museum's 11th Annual "Albuquerque Contemporary"
2003 Peter Blake Gallery 10th Anniversary Show
Vault Gallery
2002 Peter Blake Gallery
Vault Gallery
1999 Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA.
Peter Blake Gallery
Vault Gallery
1997 Santa Barbara Printmakers Association - Juried Show, Honorable Mention.
1996 Pasadena Twin Palms Gallery, California,"The Pasadena Bridge" Show
1994 Diane Nelson Gallery "Three California Realists"
LA Art EXPO
1993 Chicago Art at the Navy Pier
LA Art EXPO
1992 Tokyo International Art Show, Tokyo
1990 Diane Nelson Gallery

PUBLICATIONS

Crosswinds Weekly, Albuquerque, NM. August 14, 2003, pg. 26, Art Scene review by L. Polisar.
Albuquerque Journal, August 17, 2003, page F6, Art Review by Wesley Pulkka.
Albuquerque Alibi, August 21, 2003, pg. 25, Art Review by Steven Robert Allen.
Southwest Art Magazine - Named "Top Contemporary Realist" with feature article, March 2001.
Metropolitan Home Magazine - Della Robia Italia, ad campaign, May 2002, May 2003, Issues. Featured painting: "Industrial Building."
Coast Magazine, cover, May 1999 Issue. Featured painting: "House by the Sea."
Los Angeles Times (with TV series NYPD Blue) December 8, 1997. Interview with Director Paris Barclay. Barclay requested permission to film a painting he owns of Beck's for his TV series finale and was photographed with this painting for the LA Times interview. Featured painting: "Remote Facility."
Pasadena Magazine, cover, Winter 1996 Issue and Art Review of Twin Palms show, Pasadena Bridge. Painting: "Contemplating Suicide Bridge."
Orange County Magazine - June 1992 issue. Feature article "Spectacular Homes of Orange County," Painting: "Industrial Building."

AWARDS

First Place, Painting, Santa Barbara Arts Fund Individual Artists Award, juried competition,1999
First Place, Painting, Bank of America Achievement Award, 1974