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 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 Smithsonian Institutes’ Freer and Sackler Gallery, The Portland Art Center, Ohge Ltd. (Seattle, WA), Works San Jose, and Mission 17 (San Francisco, CA). In 2007-2009 his artwork was included in the Art Now Fair Miami Beach, the Bridge Art Fair New York and Miami Beach and the Scope Art Fair Miami Beach (through Micaela Gallery, San Francisco) and his interactive robotic drawing installations have been presented at The NASA Aimes Research Center, Interaction 10 (Savannah, GA), The Lab (San Francisco), and the Zero1 Art and Technology Fair (San Jose, CA). In 2010 Foucault was awarded a grant by the City of San Jose Public Art Program.
In addition to his own art practice, Foucault has also undertaken a series of recent curatorial projects. He is interested in uncovering conceptual undercurrents happening in contemporary art making that can develop into an expanded dialog and include the work of multiple artists. Exhibitions in San Francisco Foucault has curated and co-curated include I Walked Through Seven Sad Forests (a two part show that took place at The Garage and Ping Pong Gallery), The Weather Reconnaissance (The Garage), and The Gun Show (Root Division). Upcoming curatorial projects in 2010 include 100 Performances For the Hole Part 2- Formations/Falcore (SOMA Arts), Auto-Manic (Root Division), and The Map Project (which will appear at Zero 1 San Jose, and along the San Fernando Corridor from June – September).
Recent reviews of Foucault’s work have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The SF Weekly (Pick of the Week), East Bay Express (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.
http://peterfoucault.wordpress.com/
http://www.micaela.com/foucault.html
Chris Treggiari
Chris Treggiari lives and works in the Bay Area. Chris has recently received grants from the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the City of San Jose. Chris has shown nationally including Rhode Island and San Diego, and extensively in the Bay Area including Queens Nails Projects, Southern Exposure, and SOMA Arts to name a few. Recent reviews of Chris’s work include the San Francisco Chronicle and the Guardian as well as The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and in the art magazine Art Ltd.
