JOHN BEECH: ACROSS THE SURFACE
May 29 - June 27, 2026
They are not just black and white photos. The subject matter is urban: city streets, industrial sites, alleyways, warehouse facades. Within them is the accumulated flotsam and jetsam of human life in a city: dumpsters, random pieces of abandoned furniture, bits of construction equipment. But each photo is also ground for the artist’s intervention. In some pieces like Photo-Painting #202, Berlin, paint covers over the shape of what might, in another context, be called the “subject” of the photo - blue brushstrokes coating a hexagonal dumpster. In others, like Photo Painting #193, Del Monte Center, Monterey, thick goldenrod paint covers over the entire background of the image, stripping away context. In still others, like Faux-brick Dumpster, 52nd Street, Manhattan, the interventions take a different tact, with marks of red as well as tape, staples, and ink scratched across the surface.
We humans take things for granted: a street, a chair, the passage of time. Wandering the world with our heads bent down over our phones, lost inside a digital, two-dimensional maze of news and noise, our senses and bodies left behind, our minds overwhelmed by information, how long since we really experienced that alley, that tree, that sky?
This is the opportunity that art grants us: a chance to realign ourselves, reconnect with our senses and our proprioceptive experience of moving through the world. Art, aesthetic experience, lights up multiple regions of our brains, including the default mode network that normally only runs during introspective moments like daydreaming
or memory. It is a truly unique state that allows humans to thrive. As Susan Magsamen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says, “In fact, the science shows we’re neurobiologically wired for these kinds of experiences, and they contribute to our health and well-being.” Art complexifies and connects us with the world.
The Photo-Paintings and Monotypes of John Beech do just this. They challenge our preconceptions, providing the jolt, the pause, that invites us to pay closer attention. These works confound our sense of what a photo is, what a painting is, and how we see art and the world. Across the Surface provides a survey of Beech’s Photo-Paintings and Monotypes from across the decades and dovetails with the announcement of a new book about this particular body of work forthcoming from Radius Books in spring 2027.
The series of work that became the Photo-Paintings evolved over about a decade. Beech first studied photography while at school at UC Berkeley in 1986. In the late 90’s when Beech moved to New York City, he began to take photos of the industrial streets of Brooklyn, mostly as a way to get to know his new home. During that time, he stumbled on the faux-brick dumpster in Manhattan, as he says, “trying to camouflage itself against a brick wall.” That photo inspired his particular interest in photographing dumpsters. It resonated with the container sculpture work that he was already doing which merged a minimalist aesthetic influenced by Judd and Serra, with a “basic utility vernacular.” Beech found dumpsters fascinating for their unique placement within human life and
landscape. As he says, “A dumpster on the street has a certain insistent presence and right to be, wherever it is found. I liked this conviction and found it all the more intriguing that a dumpster concurrently tends to be overlooked, not noticed.”
This way of describing the ubiquitous dumpster provides a bit of a skeleton key into Beech’s work. Beech’s art seems to dance along the edge of this particular dynamic, bridging categories and seeming opposites: high and low, familiar and strange, old and new, clear and hidden, homely and aesthetic, painting and photo. It brings together expected and unexpected in ways that allow the viewer to see anew and to experience a whole beyond the sum of these disparate parts.
Across the Surface brings together a broad view of Beech’s work from forty years. Coming into the gallery from the streets outside (asphalt, train tracks, traffic lights, adobe facades), the viewer has the chance to put away her phone, take a deep breath, and feel for that spark of connection to ignite from the aesthetic contradictions and surprises that Beech has created. Sink in. Who knows how this might change you? As Beech has said, “Art is a meditation on the nature of reality and therefore not an act of distraction from reality.”
- Michaela Kahn, PhD
Monotype #11, East Williamsburg Industrial Park, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #23, Am Rupenhorn, Berlin, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #24, Scholes Street, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #7, Ingraham Street, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #30, Meserole Street, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #1, Maspeth Avenue, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 inches
Monotype #25, Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, 2026, printer’s ink, digital photograph, 43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 inches
Coated Drawing #86, 2006, oil enamel, B/W Silver Gelatin photographs, aluminum panel, 74.25 x 49.75 x 2 inches
Dumpster, West Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 1999, oil enamel, varnish, ink, staples, tape on B/W RC silver gelatin photograph, 14 x 19 inches
Dumpster Site Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 1997, oil enamel, ink, tape, paper, plastic clear sheet, staples, B/W RC silver gelatin photograph, 11 x 13 x 1.5 inches
Warehouse,
,
Monotype #11, East Williamsburg Industrial Park, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 in.
JB0188
Click to inquire about this work
Monotype #23, Am Rupenhorn, Berlin, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 in.
JB0193
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Monotype #24, Scholes Street, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 in.
JB0189
Click to inquire about this work
Monotype #7, Ingraham Street, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 in.
JB0173
Click to inquire about this work
Monotype #32, Judd studio building, Marfa, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
31.825 x 43.375 x 1.5 in.
JB0175
Click to inquire about this work
$6,000
$6,000
$6,000
Monotype #1, Maspeth Avenue, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 in.
JB0174
Click to inquire about this work
$6,000
$6,000
Monotype #25, Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 in.
JB0176
Click to inquire about this work
$6,000
Monotype #30, Meserole Street, Brooklyn, 2026
printer’s ink, digital photograph
43.375 x 31.825 x 1.5 in.
JB0177
Click to inquire about this work
$6,000
Photo-Painting #212, Harrison Place, Brooklyn, 2023
oil enamel, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0183
Click to inquire about this work
Photo-Painting #193, Del Monte Center, Monterey, 2023
oil enamel, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0185
Click to inquire about this work
Photo-Painting #192, Beach Channel Drive, Queens, 2023
oil paint, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0184
Click to inquire about this work
$8,500
$6,000
Photo-Painting #201, Olmsted Road, Monterey, 2023
oil paint, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0191
Click to inquire about this work
$8,500
$8,500
$8,500
Photo-Painting #186, Harrison Place, Brooklyn, 2023
oil enamel, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0186
Click to inquire about this work
Photo-Painting #187, Rusternallee, Berlin, 2023
oil enamel, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0190
Click to inquire about this work
Photo-Painting #188, East Village, Manhattan, 2023
oil enamel, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0194
Click to inquire about this work
Photo-Painting #202, Berlin, 2023
oil paint, digital photograph, canvas, wood panel
24.25 x 30 x 1.75 in.
JB0181
Click to inquire about this work
Coated Drawing #86, 2006
oil enamel, B/W Silver Gelatin photographs, aluminum panel
74.25 x 49.75 x 2 in.
JB0179
Click to inquire about this work
$8,500
Dumpster Site Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 1997
$2,500
oil enamel, ink, tape, paper, plastic clear sheet, staples, B/W RC silver gelatin photograph 11 x 13 x 1.5 in.
JB0192
Click to inquire about this work
Dumpster, West Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 1999
oil enamel, varnish, ink, staples, tape on B/W RC silver gelatin photograph 14 x 19 in.
JB0172
Click to inquire about this work
$8,500
Faux-brick Dumpster, 52nd Street, Manhattan, 1999
oil enamel, ink, tape, staples, B/W RC silver gelatin photograph 14 x 17 x 1.5 in.
JB0178
Click to inquire about this work
$3,000
$8,500
Greenpoint Warehouse, Brooklyn, 2009
marker pen, B/W RC silver gelatin photograph 14 x 17 x 1.5 in.
JB0182
Click to inquire about this work
$3,000
$8,500
$21,000
$3,000
Born: 1964 in Winchester, England
Education:
1986 B.A., University of California, Berkeley, California
Awards:
1999 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award
1998 The Chinati Foundation, Residency, Marfa, TX
1992 SECA Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1985 Maybelle Toombs Award for Practice of Art, University of California, Berkeley
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2026 John Beech: Across the Surface, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2023 Vantage Overview, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2023 Coast to Coast: John Beech and David Simpson, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2020 Kenchis, Studio A03, Tokyo, Japan
Ever, Galerie Giséle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2019 In Site, Haus der Kunst St. Josef, Solothurn, Switzerland
2018 Outside the Drift, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Under Way, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 Silent Articles, Daniel Marzona, Berlin, Germany
2016 Object in Place, Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
John Beech: New Work, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2015 Frieze New York, Peter Blum, New York, NY
2014 Galerie M&R Fricke, Berlin, Germany
viewpoint, Haus Der Kunst St.Josef, Solothurn, Switzerland
John Beech: Small Wall Objects, Concept Space, Shibukawa, Gunma, Japan
2012 Time Expanded, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
The Space Surrounding, Peter Blum Soho, New York, NY
Likelihood / Unlikelihood, Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
2011 85-87 FBG. St. Martin (with Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire), Paris, France
Door to the Window, Haus Der Kunst, Solothurn, Switzerland
John Beech, A Selection of Recent Work, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
John Beech, Portland Art Museum, (Curator: Bruce Guenther) Portland, OR
The State of Things, Peter Blum Chelsea, New York, NY
2010 John Beech: Works for a Wall, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2009 Incidents: Drawings and Sculpture, Galeria La Caja Negra, Madrid
John Beech & John Zurier, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
2008 Obscure / Reveal, John Beech & Edward Albee, Peter Blum Soho, New York, NY
Nohow, CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium
2007 That and This: New Work, Peter Blum Chelsea, New York, NY
Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2006 John Beech New Work, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
John Beech: Project Space, G Fine Art, Washington D.C.
John Beech New Work: Sculpture and Drawings, Howard Yezerski Gallery,Boston, MA
2005 Recent Sculpture and Large Scale Drawings, Peter Blum, New York, NY
New Sculpture made on Site and Drawings, Galerie M+R Fricke, Berlin, Germany
2004 John Beech Works 1989 – 2004, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany
John Beech from the Collection, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
John Beech New Work, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
John Beech – New Sculptures and Paintings (with John Meyer – Drawings), Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland
2003 Peter Blum, New York, NY
Archive Inc. Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Brooklyn Container, Brooklyn Central Public Library, Brooklyn, NY (+ Collaborative Drawings 1998 –2003 with Simon Lee and Christopher Lesnewski)
2002 Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Rotating Paintings, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
2000 John Beech: New Work, Stark Gallery, New York , NY
Alexander Nagel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Built on Site, TD156, San Francisco, CA
1999 Petra Bungert Projects / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1998 The Locker Plant, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX
1997 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA
1996 Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1995 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1994 Miles Bellamy-113 Crosby Street, New York, NY
1993 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1992 Sculpture Built On The Premises, Upaya Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1990 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
1989 Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Public Collections:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
FRAC Bretagne, Rennes, France
Manfred Wandel / Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany
George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY
Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, CA
The Martin Z. Margulies Collection, Miami, FL
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
The George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY
Sidley and Austin, New York, NY
Pfizer Corporation, New York, NY
Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, WA
Bank of America, Los Angeles, CA
Robertson Stevens & Co., San Francisco, CA
Roche, Switzerland
Swiss Re, New York, NY
KFW Bank, Frankfurt / Berlin, Germany
Shoes or no Shoes? Ghent, Belgium
Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA
