PETER FOUCAULT

'Foucault's procedure connects his work with the Surrealist lineage of automatism, the chance-enamored strategies of Fluxus and oddities on the fringes of art such as Harold Cohen's computer-generated drawings.'

-Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

 

Peter Foucault creates works on paper, videos, and installations that are fueled by his love of drawing and mark making. He has created a series of Drawing-Projects, which utilize systems developed by the artist that produce complex abstract compositions. At the root of these projects is a constant tension between control and the loss of control. Viewer interactivity plays an integral part in his drawing installations, large-scale artworks in which participants influence the outcome of a drawing that is created by a small robot over the duration of an event or exhibition. His work is concept driven, and often utilizes objects that reference printmaking and multiplicities.

 

Foucault has participated in numerous exhibitions nationwide, with recent solo shows at The SFMOMA Café, The Richmond Art Center (Richmond, CA), and Blankspace Gallery (Oakland, CA). In January 2010 Foucault will be having a solo show at Micaela Gallery. His work has been included in group shows at the Smithsonian Institutes’ Freer and Sackler Gallery, The Portland Art Center, Ohge Ltd. (Seattle, WA), Works San Jose, and Mission 17 (San Francisco, CA). In 2007-2008 his artwork was included in the Art Now Fair Miami Beach, the Bridge Art Fair New York and Miami Beach (through Micaela Gallery, San Francisco), and his interactive robotic drawing installations have been presented at The NASA Aimes Research Center, The Lab (San Francisco), and the Zero1 Art and Technology Fair (San Jose, CA).  Recent reviews of Foucault’s work have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The SF Weekly (Pick of the Week), ArtWeek, Wired Magazine, Stretcher Magazine, and Artnet Magazine. In April 2009 his drawing Four Square was featured on the Cover of California Home and Design Magazine. Foucault’s work is represented by the Micaela Gallery in San Francisco. He lives and works in Oakland, CA.

 

 

Education

2000         BFA – Printmaking, University of Washington

                BA - Art History, University of Washington

2001-03    Graduate Studies, University of Hawaii, Manoa

2005        MFA – Printmaking, San Francisco Art Institute

 

Solo Exhibitions

2010        (January), Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009        Translations, SFMOMA Café, San Francisco, CA

2008        External Influences, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

2007        Outside Forces, Blankspace Gallery, Oakland, CA

               Draw!, Frankee Uno Salon and Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2006        Outline, Print Zero Studios, Seattle, WA

2005        Overdrawn, Crucible Steel Gallery, CELLspace, San Francisco, CA

2004        Publish or Perish, Installation at the Design Pavilion, San Francisco, CA

               Drawn In, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               In The West, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Generations, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2001        Automatic Response, the Nation Gallery, Seattle, WA

 

Group Exhibitions

2009        Tangible Technology, Design Guild SF, San Francisco, CA

               Re:source (2 person show). Foster City Art Gallery, Foster City, CA

               All Good Things, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Group Drawing Show, OHGE LTD, Seattle, WA

               Art.Tech, The Lab, San Francisco, CA

               Winter Salon 2009, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2008        Bridge Art Fair (with Micaela Gallery), Miami Beach, FL

               The Weather Reconnaissance, The Garage, San Francisco, CA

               Zero 1, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA

               Yuri’s Night 2008, NASA Aimes Research Center, Mountain View, CA

               Bridge Art Fair, (with Micaela Gallery), New York, NY

               Printzero Studios Print Exchange#6, COCA, Seattle, WA

               Compass, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007        Art Now Fair, (with Micaela Gallery), Miami, FL

               The Drawing Project (2 person show), a.Muse Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               The Gun Show, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

               Tall Tales (2 person show), Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Printzero Studios Print Exchange#5, Sev Shoon Art Center, Seattle, WA

               Artists Go Lightly, Temporary Autonomous Museum, San Francisco, CA

               Salon D’Ete, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival, The Lab, San Francisco, CA

               Body of Work, Works San Jose, CA

               Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2007, NASA Aimes Research Center, Mountain View, CA

               Novus + Neos (New work + New artists), Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               FREEDM, Noise Pop Festival opening exhibition@ Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA

2006        Anti/Social, Mission 17 Gallery, juried show, San Francisco, CA

               Mind Strata: The Collision Point, Works San Jose, CA

               Printzero Studios Print Exchange#4, University of Florida

               Printzero Studios Print Exchange#4, Sev Shoon Art Center, Seattle, WA

               Printzero Studios Print Exchange#4, Basil Howard Gallery, Portland, OR

               The Grotesque Sublime, Kitchen Distribution Gallery, Buffalo, NY

               The Art of Tea, Cricket Engine Gallery, juried show, Oakland, CA

               Empirical Nostalgia, Million Fishes Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Boredom: I Learned it by Watching You, Portland Art Center, OR

               Mind Strata: Office Dreams, 2001 Broadway, Oakland, CA

               Art SF 5th Anniversary Show, ArtSF Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Rundgang, Staedelschule Academy of Art, Frankfurt, Germany

2005        AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY

               Postcards from the Edge, Benefit for Visual Aids, Robert Miller Gallery, NY

               Paper Cuts-Again, Fetterly Gallery, juried show, Vallejo, CA

               MFA Show, SFAI, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

               Third Annual Juried Show, Galeria Galou, Brooklyn, NY

               California Black and White, Cabrillo Gallery juried show, Aptos, CA

               Artist Book Show, Walter McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute

               Say What!, ArtSf Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2004        AD-HOC, Crucible Steel Gallery, Cell Space, San Francisco, CA

               Art Out Loud, ARTSF Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               Snap to Grid, Los Angles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA

               Skyways of Tomorrow, Oakland Airport, NASA design collaboration, Oakland, CA

               CCA+SFAI, Play Space Gallery juried show, California College of Art

               Out Source, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA

               New Natures, Swissnex, Gallery of the Swiss Consulate, San Francisco, CA

               Off-Site, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

               Small Works, Swell Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute, CA

2003        Autofocus, Freer and Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute, juried show, Washington, DC

               Fats Famous, Swell Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute, juried show,

               Gene Carnival, Swell Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute

               Sign:Language, Swell Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute

 

Programs and Grants

2004        Board of Trustees, Student Representative, San Francisco Art Institute

               NASA Space Program teaching grant, San Francisco Art Institute

               Collaborative project with RIGO 04, San Francisco Art Institute

               Inclusion of work in the Education Panel of Southern Graphics,Rutgers University

2001-03   Teaching Grant, University of Hawaii, Manoa

2002        Independent study, George Pompidou Center, Paris, France

2000        Merit award, University of Washington

 

Collection

The Getty Institute, Artist Books Collection, Los Angeles, CA

 

Published Material, Reviews

2009        California Home and Design, Cover image and “The Reign of Spain”, Mikhael Romain, March/April 2009

2007        Artnet.com, “Miami Post Mortem”, Ben Davis, 12/24/07

               SF Gaurdian, “Pick of the Week: The Magari Project and The Drawing Project”, Amy Hough, 11/28/07

               The San Francisco Chronicle, “Foucault’s Robots”, Kenneth Baker, 9/29/07

               Stretcher Magazine, “Tall Tales”, Stephanie Ellis, October 2007

               SF Weekly, “Pick of the Week”, Ping Pong in the Garage, Traci Vogel, 8/22/07

               Wired Magazine Online, “Robots Offer Lesson in Abstract Expressionism”, Rob Beschizza, 4/17/07

               Crave.com, “Gadget Report from Yuris Night @ NASA”, Donald Bell, 4/16/07

               Ubergizmo.com, “Drawing Robots Draw People”, 4/16/07

               ArtBusiness.com, “Draw!”, Alan Bamberger, 2/24/07

2006        ArtSpan Open Studios Catalog, “Home Grown Galleries”, Amee LeDuc, 10/06

               Elle Decore Magazine, Conrad Drapery Advertisment, August 2006

2005        Portland Art.net, “Boredom I Learned it by Watching You”, Jeff Jahn, 4/21/06

               Artweek, “Papercuts (again)”, Jordan Essoe, November 2005

               ArtBusiness.com, “Overdrawn”, Alan Bamberger, 8/3/05

               Block Magazine, “Thirteen Artists, One Galeria Galou”, Rachel Hyman, 6/24/05

               The Cabrillo Voice, “Black and White, an exciting exhibition comes to Cabrillo”, Elana Abeles, 4/13/05

               Register-Pajaronian, “Seeing things in Black and White”, Richard Bennett, 3/18/05

2002        Television interview on Fox Cable Network, Honolulu, Hawaii

2001        Bricolage Magazine, Issue 18, 2001, University of Washington Press

1999        The Stranger, The Stranger Suggests, August 19 issue

 

Curatorial Projects

2010        Auto:Manic, Root Division, San Francisco, CA (June)

2007        The Gun Show, Root Division, San Francisco, CA,

               I Walked Through Seven Sad Forests, Ping Pong Gallery @ the Garage: Part of the Garage Biennale 2007

 

Lectures

2007        Visiting Artist, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

2004        Visiting Artist, Napa Valley College, CA

               SFAI representative, College Preview Day, Los Angles, CA

               SFAI representative, College Preview Day, Austin, TX