Beck Lowry (b. 1980; New Haven, CT) explores labor, lineage, and tradition through intricate and abstract wall-hung sculpture. Lowry draws on the visual language of the natural world and global histories of craft in their pursuit of coded narrative and evocation of ritual significance. In their approach, the artist combines a variety of media, deploying carved plywood, crochet thread, oil paint, and recycled fabric in recurring combinations that evoke cultural contexts across time.
Lowry’s laborious process is driven by a need to build, an observant devotion to physical exertion that charges their work with intention, time, and meaning. The artist connects this practice to a long succession of makers — from ancient stone carvers and weavers to their family’s own carpenters, boat builders, and jewelers. Lowry explores an evolving relationship between craftsmanship and narrative, and celebrates the potential that objects have to translate human emotions and memories. Referencing, but ultimately eliding direct calls to function, Lowry’s biomorphic works speak in energies through a talismanic capacity.
Lowry’s work has been exhibited at Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY; Elijah Wheat Showroom, Newburgh, NY; Headstone Gallery, Kingston, NY; Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New Haven, CT; Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; and Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE. Lowry is a 2024-25 resident of the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Brooklyn, NY; and has participated in residencies at Interlude, Kingston, NY; and Millay Arts, Austerlitz, NY. Their work has been covered in Artforum, New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, and Galerie. Works by Lowry are held in the public collections of Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven, CT, and Gateway Community College, New Haven, CT. Lowry holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and a Certificate in African Studies from Smith College, Northampton, MA. The artist lives and works in Connecticut.