Josh Faught
Josh Faught is a San Francisco-based fiber artist (born 1979, St. Louis, Missouri) who creates sculptures, textiles, collages, and paintings.[1] His work incorporates techniques such as knitting, crochet, and weaving, and addresses topics of craft and queer history. His fiber sculptures, influenced by both domestic crafts and art styles such as abstract and color field painting, are often either hung on the wall or stretched over scaffolding such as garden trellises; they are three-dimensional but forward-oriented.[2]
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Education
Faught graduated from Oberlin College in 2001. He earned an AAS in Textile and Surface Design from FIT in 2004 and an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006.[3][4]
Career
In 2012, the work It Takes a Lifetime to Get Exactly Where You Are included a section that used weaving to replicate a segment of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It Takes a Lifetime evokes the mixed history of the feminist craft revival of the 1970s and the concurrent AIDS crisis. It also assesses the legacy of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was criticized during its early years for sentimentality and a lack of political direction. It Takes a Lifetime recognizes the "grassroots networks for caregiving and other support that are not easily integrated into official histories and are often subject to dismissal as merely creative, ameliorative, or apolitical."[5]
In 2013, Faught, commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, created an installation for the Neptune Society Columbarium in San Francisco. The major element, Untitled (2013) consisted of a large panel, both woven and crocheted, hung from the central archway of the Columbarium. The panel incorporated various objects that mimicked offerings left by the niches, such as plastic food, pins, and greeting cards. Untitled (2013) addresses issues of memorialization in a sympathetic and irreverent manner. Of the project, Faught said: “Really ordinary objects can resonate on a deeply personal level. They can archive someone in a really idiosyncratic and unusual way.”[6]
According to the article, Fiber Art: The Queer Kid on the Bus by Steven Frost,[7] "approaches the impediments of feminism, hobby craft, and queer history with a sense of reverence and anxiety." His artwork represents the hardships of gay individuals and fiber artists to conform in our society while staying innovative.
Faught currently serves as the Chair of the Textiles Department at California College of the Arts.[8]
Exhibitions
2019
Mr. Kramer’s Dream House, Casa Loewe, London, England[9]
2018
Josh Faught (solo presentation), Frieze London, London, England[10]
2017
Sanctuary, St. Mark’s Cathedral, commissioned by Western Bridge, Seattle, Washington[11]
2015
Josh Faught (solo presentation), NADA Art Fair, Miami, Florida[12]
2014
Christmas Creep, Lisa Cooley Gallery, New York, New York[13]
I know I came into this room for a reason, Kendall Koppe Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland[14]
The Mauve Decade, Launch Pad commission, London, England[15]
2013
BE BOLD for what you stand for, BE CAREFUL for what you fall for, Neptune Society Columbarium, commissioned by SFMoMA, San Francisco, California[16] (SECA Art Award)
Snacks, Supports, and Something to Rally Around, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri[17]
Josh Faught (solo presentation), Artissima Art Fair, Turin, Italy[18]
References
- "Josh Faught | California College of the Arts". www.cca.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
- Sarah Parrish, "Josh Faught" in Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present. Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston: China 2014. Print.
- Auther, Elissa (February 26, 2015). "He is survived by his longtime companion: Feeling in the Work of Josh Faught". Art Practical. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- SFMOMA bio
- Elissa Auther, "He Is Survived by His Longtime Companion: Feeling in the Work of Josh Faught" in Nation Building: Craft and Contemporary American Culture. Bloomsbury Academic: New York 2016. Print.
- "Fake snacks and jack-o'-lanterns: Josh Faught takes us to the Neptune Society Columbarium". YouTube. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. September 10, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- "Fiber Art: The Queer Kid on the Bus | Art21 Magazine". Art21 Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
- "People Finder - California College of the Arts - Portal". portal.cca.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- Magazine, Wallpaper* (2019-10-07). "Fashion's finest moments at Frieze Week 2019". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- "Frieze London 2018 review: bleak humour, female pioneers and more diversity - a-n The Artists Information Company". Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- "Josh Faught: Sanctuary". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- "12 Years in, NADA Miami Beach Still Feels the Same: Different". Hyperallergic. 2015-12-05. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- Patel, Alpesh Kantilal. "Artforum Picks". Artforum. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- Thompson, Susannah (December 2014). "Josh Faught: I know I Came into this Room for a Reason". Art Review. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- "Collecting as Collaboration: Launch Pad Brings Artists Directly into Collector Sarah Elson's Home". ArtSlant. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- "Josh Faught at The Neptune Society Columbarium, San Francisco". Droste Effect Mag. 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- Fowler, Nancy. "Take Five: STL-born artist Josh Faught on 'Snacks' and sexual orientation". news.stlpublicradio.org. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- "Artissima 2013". www.domusweb.it. Retrieved 2020-07-24.