Peter Foucault

Artist 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 Micalea Gallery, the SFMOMA Café, the Richmond Art Center (Richmond, CA), and Blankspace Gallery (Oakland, CA). His work has been included in group shows at the Torrance Museum, Smithsonian Institutes’ Freer and Sackler Gallery, Kit Schulte Contemporary (Berlin, Germany), The University of Salford (Manchester, England), The NASA Aimes Research Center, and The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. In 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, The Lab (San Francisco), and the Zero1 Art and Technology Fair (San Jose, CA).  In 2010 Foucault was awarded a Creative Work Fund grant and a grant from the City of San Jose Public Art Program, and in 2012 he was awarded a grant from the City of Oakland's Cultural Funding program, US Bank, and the Seattle Center Foundation.

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. He lives and works in Oakland, CA.