NEW YORK, NY.- Allan Stone Projects regrets to announce that David Beck passed away on October 23 in San Francisco, California. Beck was 65 years old.

David Beck was born in Muncie, Indiana in 1953. After a year at Indiana University Bloomington, he studied painting and sculpture at Carnegie-Mellon, and received his BFA in 1976. That year he moved to New York, where Allan Stone became the artist’s primary dealer for three decades. David was beloved by Allan’s family, professional staff and all who knew him and admired his work. Beck later settled in San Francisco, where he lived until his death.

As a practitioner of the utmost precision and a master of simple mechanics, Beck made objects of wonder that were never quite what they seemed. Whether it be a secret compartment, a window, a lever, or a knob, his creations are ensconced in the covetousness and intimacy of reliquaries. Beck created whole worlds that at once evoked elements of surprise and curiosity, while exploring complex issues of loss and pathos in unexpected ways.

In addition to over a dozen exhibitions at Allan Stone Gallery, Beck has been the subject of solo shows at several galleries and museums, including Hackett Mill Gallery in San Francisco and the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden, Germany. Beck was also the only living artist to have three solo exhibits at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where his commissioned work MVSEVM is on permanent display. Beck's work has been featured in group exhibitions at The Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, the Guggenheim Museum and MoMA PS1 in New York. Beck has been reviewed in The Smithsonian Magazine, Art & Antiques, The New York Times, and Art in America. In 2014, Olympia Stone directed the documentary Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck, chronicling the artist's life and work.

We will all miss David’s wit, music and unique imagination.