Noah Becker


Noah Becker is an American and Canadian artist, writer, publisher and jazz saxophonist who lives and works in New York City.

Early life and education

Becker was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up on a 40-acre farm on Thetis Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. He moved with his family to Victoria, British Columbia, at age 15, after their house burned down. He had little early formal education and did not attend high school. He was a student at Victoria College of Art, and completed a year studying saxophone at Humber College, before moving to New York in 2004.

Career and projects

Working from his studio in Brooklyn, Becker's oil paintings have been exhibited in numerous museums, galleries, and major art fairs in Canada, the United States and Europe, including in New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, London, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Miami and Switzerland. His most recent New York solo exhibition was in November, 2013.
Becker is the founder and editor-in-chief of Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, an online contemporary art magazine. He is also a contributing writer for Art in America Magazine, Canadian Art Magazine and the Huffington Post.
Becker's first album, Where We Are, features guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Becker's recent recordings as a sideman have been with Canadian hip hop artist Moka Only. Rosenwinkel and Only also contributed music to the soundtrack of New York Is Now, Becker's 2010 documentary on the New York art scene. Becker performed with saxophonist David Murray at New York City's famous jazz club the Village Vanguard in 2018.

Awards

In 2009, Becker was one of 15 artists nominated for the RBC Painting Prize. This exhibition toured Becker's painting to Musée D'Art Contemporain De Montréal and the Power Plant in Toronto.
NYArts magazine named him as one of their 30 Artists To Watch in 2012.
Becker was awarded second prize in the College Arts 86’ competition judged by Canadian artist Alex Colville
Becker's work is in The Michael C. Williams Collection of the Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery at the University of Victoria in Saanich, British Columbia, and was added to the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, in May, 2014.