Bell Beecher Pitkin (b. 2001, Charlotte, NC) is a lesbian artist and curator who lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. Within their practice, Bell works primarily with medium format photography to explore notions of the archive, family, and the queer identity, often situated in the landscape and mysticism of the Southern United States.
Building upon the foundations laid by queer and lesbian artists and activists before them, Bell is interested in using the camera as both an introspective tool and a means of outward projection. They are curious about symbols of queerness: how are they created, how do we recognize them within ourselves and others? How can the camera be used to expand collective understandings of queerness?
Their work has been exhibited at the Light Factory (Charlotte, NC), Fort Point Arts Community and Panopticon Gallery (Boston, MA), and Gallery 14BC (New York, NY), among others. Bell received their BA in Cinema and Media Studies with a concentration in Photography from Wellesley College in 2023 and has completed independent coursework at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and with Ariel Goldberg.
Bell currently serves as the Gallery Manager for the Leica Boston Gallery and as a Curatorial Assistant & Board Member for Sinister Wisdom.
Exhibitions
2025 TCF Spring 2025 Show | The Curated Fridge | Somerville, MA, Whispering Shadows | Float Magazine | Virtual
2024 TCF Autumn 2024 Show | The Curated Fridge | Somerville, MA
Echoes of the Past | the Light Factory | Charlotte, NC
A Plea to Nine Muses | Behind VA Shadows | Cambridge, MA
Jewel Box: Exploring Queer Art | FPAC Assemblage Art Space | Boston, MA
Memory as Collage | Gallery 14BC | New York, NY
2023 Interlochen Faculty and Staff Exhibition | Dow Center for Visual Arts | Interlochen, MI
Remember A Place Not Here | Jewett Art Gallery | Wellesley, MA
Photographic Resource Center Student Show | Panopticon Gallery | Boston, MA
2022 A Possible Sum, A--Company | New York Fashion Week | New York, NY
Publications
2024 Femme Dyke Zine | ‘Love Letter’, Issue 3 The Eclectic Collective | ‘Dykes and Doobies’, Issue 2
2023 Femme Dyke Zine | ‘Diary of a Dyke’, Issue 2
2022 The Wellesley Review, Issue 29
Sinister Wisdom | ‘Glorious Defiance’, Issue 125
Pentimento Magazine | “Art in the Environment’
Neophyte Zine | ‘Hearts and Spades’, Issue 2
The Wellesley Review, Issue 28
2021 The Wellesley Review, Issue 27
Neophyte Zine, Issue 1
The Wellesley Review, Issue 26
2020 The Wellesley Review, Issue 25
Independent Curatorial Work
2025 Lesbian Generations: 1976-2026 | Design and curation for the 2026 Sinister Wisdom Calendar *50 Years of Lesbian Art | Co-curation with Juno Rosenhaus for Dyke+ArtHaus | Philadelphia, PA *
2024 Out Dykes, Outside, design and art curation for the Sinister Wisdom 2025 Calendar
A Summer in Boston Through their Eyes, writing and curation for the Trustees of Reservations
2023 Radical Creativity, art curation for the Sinister Wisdom 2024 Calendar
* currently in progress