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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Visual Art Josh Faught Wins!

Posted by on Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 3:31 PM

Josh Faught, Triage, 2009
  • Lisa Cooley Gallery
  • Josh Faught, Triage, 2009
A few weeks ago I predicted that Matthew Offenbacher and Jenny Heishman were the artists to beat in the field of five competing for Seattle Art Museum's $15,000 Betty Bowen Award. Turns out I was wrong—they won both the runner-up awards ($2,500 each), but the big winner is Josh Faught—who looks to me like a pretty exciting unknown.

Here's what we know: Faught graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006 and has been assistant professor and program director of fibers at the University of Oregon since 2007. According to his bio, he's never had a solo gallery show in the Northwest; he is represented by Lisa Cooley in New York, where he was in a group show in 2008 (his first solo there is coming up in January). See his images page here.

Josh Faught, You Cant Live Scared, 2007
  • Lisa Cooley Gallery
  • Josh Faught, You Can't Live Scared, 2007
This headline from a forthcoming article including his work (found, again, on his bio) gives a clue as to what this Faught fellow is up to: "Put Your Thing Down, Flip It, and Reverse It: Re-imagining Craft Identities Using Tactics of Queer Theory."

I've never seen his work and am dying to. The press for this announcement does not mention anything about an exhibition—usually the winners get a show and the dough, which only makes sense. What's up with that?

I'm waiting to hear back from SAM.

UPDATE: Brain fail. It was right there in the release: "A selection of Faught’s work will be on view at the Seattle Art Museum beginning in October 2009.” Precise dates are TBA. Might I also suggest a space besides the elevator foyer?

 

Comments (5) RSS

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kristinbell 1
From the images that were on the link that you provided, well, I have to say I don't get it. Maybe someone could explain to me why his work is "good"???
Posted by kristinbell http://kristinbell.org on September 18, 2009 at 12:27 AM
2
Jen, two of Josh Faught's pieces are currently on view in "Call + Response," at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland. There is an interview about his work with Kate Mondlach, who also teaches at UO at www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org
Posted by Namita Wiggers on September 18, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Lucas Spivey 3
Might I also suggest a space besides the elevator foyer?

True that. Give him a room.
Posted by Lucas Spivey http://www.lucasspivey.com on September 20, 2009 at 1:13 AM
4
Emo Prozac wins again!!!

Also, is it just my imagination, or is this the first year Betty offered her charms to Oregon residents?
Posted by HuskyQuaker on September 21, 2009 at 9:00 PM
5
wow, breath of fresh air for realz! reminds me of this lady, who is a genius with a bad website:
www.kaisersmith.com
Posted by jamey marie braden on September 23, 2009 at 10:59 PM

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