ARTiculAction
Peter Foucault (USA) an artist’s statement
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 Center (Richmond, CA). His work has been included in group shows at the Torrance Museum (Los Angeles, CA), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA), Marine Contemporary (Santa Monica, CA), Smithsonian Institutes’ Freer and Sackler Gallery, Kit Schulte Contemporary (Berlin, Germany), The University of Salford (Manchester, England), and The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA). Between 2007-2011 his artwork was included in the Art Now Fair Miami Beach, the Bridge Art Fair New York and Miami Beach, the AAF in New York, and the Scope Art Fair Miami Beach. His interactive robotic drawing installations have been presented at The NASA Aimes Research Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), The Lab (San Francisco), Robert Berman E6 Gallery (San Francisco), the Seattle Next50 (Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Seattle Worlds Fair), and the Zero1 Art and Technology Fair (San Jose, CA). In addition to his own practice, Foucault is the Co-Founder of the Mobile Arts Platform (MAP), a Bay Area based artmaking and curatorial team that creates interactive “pop-up” mobile exhibitions. The MAP project was included in the American Association of Museums 2012 annual reports’ “Trends Watch”. In 2010 Foucault received funding from the Creative Work Fund, and a grant from the City of San Jose Public Art Program, in 2012 he was awarded grants from the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program, US Bank, and the Seattle Center Foundation, and in 2013 he was awarded a grant through the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Foucault has recently presented lectures at Stanford University, City College, San Francisco University and the SETI Institute (Mountain View, CA). Foucault’s work has been reviewed in The San Francisco Chronicle, The SF Weekly (Pick of the Week), ArtWeek, Wired Magazine, Stretcher Magazine, and Artnet Magazine. In 2009 his drawing Four Square was featured on the Cover of California Home and Design Magazine. Foucault’s work is represented by Room Gallery in Mill Valley, CA, and selected works are available through the SFMOMA Artists Gallery, and Micaela Gallery in Alamo, CA. He lives and works in Oakland, CA.
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