Josh Faught
2025 Stepping Stone Grantee
Bio
Josh Faught’s work uses pop cultural detritus, archival materials, and the vernacular of textiles to address the relationships between language, community, and the constructions of identity. Recent solo exhibitions include "Sanctuary," Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; "Look Across the Water into the Darkness, Look for the Fog," Wattis Institute, San Francisco; "Both Things are True," Kendall Koppe, Glasgow; "Mr. Kramer Builds His Dream House," Casa Loewe, London; "Siyinqaba," US Embassy in Swaziland, Mbabane; "BE BOLD for what you stand for, BE CAREFUL what you fall for," SFMoMA at the Neptune Society Columbarium, San Francisco; and "Snacks, Supports, and Something to Rally Around," Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis. Faught has exhibited in group exhibitions at James Cohan Gallery, New York; Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Sadie Coles HQ, London; The New Museum, New York; ICA Boston; The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; Oakville Galleries, Ontario; and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit. Faught is a Professor at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, and a recipient of a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship.
Artwork details
Look Across the Water Into the Darkness, Look for the Fog
, 2022Mixed Media installation against custom wallpaper, an abstraction appropriated from the derelict abandoned home of Liza MinelliVariableThe Wattis Institute for the Arts
Eternal Flame (front)
, 2022Hand dyed, bleached, and woven hemp and cotton; abstraction woven from a late-1980s AIDS vigil in San Francisco, California; screen printed sympathy flowers on cotton; Trials of Life (VHS) on stretched linen; the entire 264 episodes of Murder She Wrote on DVD; spray enamel; nail polish; salvaged wood,metal, and asphalt paper reconstructed to resemble the artist’s garage; digital video monitors377 × 144 × 12 inchesLook Across the Water in the Darkness, Look for the Fog at the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art.
Eternal Flame (back)
, 2022Hand dyed, bleached, and woven hemp and cotton; abstraction woven from a late-1980s AIDS vig- il in San Francisco, California; screen printed sympathy flowers on cotton; Trials of Life (VHS) on stretched linen; the entire 264 episodes of Murder She Wrote on DVD; spray enamel; nail polish; salvaged wood,metal, and asphalt paper reconstructed to resemble the artist’s garage; digital video monitors377 × 144 × 12 inchesLook Across the Water in the Darkness, Look for the Fog at the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art.
Toxic Bachelors
, 2022Basket reed; acrylic paint; spray enamel; hand dyed silk organza; nail polish; hemp; Toxic Bachelors (hardcover) by Danielle Steel; Pride, Politics & Plague (paperback) by Steve Bolerjack; steel wool; unglazed ceramic mug found in Palm Springs; seasonal plaque found in Palm Springs on pedestal painted in colors of the sunset58 × 24 × 12.5 inches
A Positive Light
, 2019Hand dyed, hand woven hemp and cotton; abstraction woven from a late 1980s AIDS vigil; textile paint and spray enamel on stretched linen92 × 64.5 × 2 inches
Pansy Sweater Vest
, 2025Hand machine knit wool in custom display case30 × 28 × 4 inchesEdition produced for The Center for Experimental Sweaters, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle in 2025
Look Across the Water Into the Darkness, Look for the Fog, 2022. Mixed Media installation against custom wallpaper, an abstraction appropriated from the derelict abandoned home of Liza Minelli. Variable. The Wattis Institute for the Arts