Lawrence Beck

American, Chnagmiut Yup'ik (born 1938, died 1994)

Northwest sculptor Lawrence "Larry" Beck (Chnagmiut Yup'ik, 1938-1994) created large, abstract sculptures in the 1960s and 1970s, before changing his focus to creating contemporary Yup'ik spirit masks using found objects.

Beck grew up in Seattle. His father was American, and his mother was Norwegian and Alaskan Yup'ik. He attended Ballard High School and the University of Washington in Seattle, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1964) degree in painting and a Master of Fine Arts (1965) degree in sculpture. In the mid 1970s, Beck visited the Alaskan coast and discovered that he understood the Yup'ik culture. He started making art influenced by Yup'ik culture, eventually focusing on the spirit masks.