Simon Beck (artist)
Simon Beck (born 1958) is a British snow artist and a former cartographer. Referred to as the world's first snow artist, he is primarily known for his landscape drawings and sculptures created from snow and sand. His work appeared in new media after he completed installations at Banff National Park in Alberta and Powder Mountain, Utah. He later participated in Minnesota's annual snow festival, "The Great Northern".[2]
Simon Beck | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 (age 62–63) |
Education | Civil engineering |
Alma mater | University of Oxford |
Known for | Snow drawings and sculptures |
Biography
He was born in 1958 London and later moved to French Alps. He originally started his career in 2004.[3] He obtained his civil engineering degree from the Oxford University, and later worked as a cartographer until he left cartography around 2009 and appeared to be involved in large-scale snow drawings.[2] He creates about thirty drawings every winter, primarily in Alps.[4] He creates artwork by walking over a mile on snowshoes which continues for around ten hours in completing an artwork.[5][6] Sometimes, he walks about 30 miles for completing a single work from snow and uses compass to measure steps needed to complete geometrical snow designs.[7]
Since he is engaged with art, he has created about 330 drawings of snow and 120 of sand till 2020. Some of his artwork has been commissioned by the associated organizations or art societies around the world.[8] In 2016, a short documentary titled Simon Beck - Snowartist was created which revolves around his artwork. The film first appeared during a short film showcas of the National Geographic.[1]
References
- "Artist Simon Beck Creates Massive Snow Drawings around the World". Artsy. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- News, A. B. C. "Artist creates massive murals in snow all over the world using just his feet". ABC News.
- "Meet the Former Engineer Who Makes Mind-Blowing Land Art With Nothing But a Pair of Snow Shoes and Some Simple Math". artnet News. January 15, 2020.
- Bellos, Alex (November 6, 2014). "Simon Beck's astonishing landscape and snow art illustrates the cold beauty of mathematics – in pictures" – via www.theguardian.com.
- "The Amazing Snow Art Of Simon Beck". NPR.org.
- "British Artist Gives A Beautiful Tribute To GOT, Creates A Huge Stark Sigil In The Snow". IndiaTimes. June 3, 2018.
- "Simon Beck: Creating art with a compass and snowshoes". March 8, 2015 – via www.bbc.com.
- "Artist Simon Beck Uses Snow As Canvas For Massive Geometrical Designs In Silverthorne". January 16, 2020.