January 23, 2019

Steve Foust, Untitled. 1975. Masking tape, polyurethane.

To break down our understanding of the natural world is to truly understand the math and science it is made up of. At first glance, Untitled might look outwardly cranial- wrapped with tape to symbolize a sort of confinement of the mind. Artist Steve Foust, however, offers an expansion of the surface of his work. Untitled exhibits how geometry can be used to create the most natural of forms. Unbroken strips of tape are meticulously melded together to create an even and geometrically sound piece. The complexity of this organization highlights both the natural and man-made realms as we know them.

For Steve Foust, the disciplines of math and science were imperative in crafting his work. His interest in the field went right along with his eagerness to experiment with new processes and materials. Geometry was often used as a basis for his art, emphasizing the way he viewed our universe as a continuous state of complexity. The way that he carefully crafted tape in repetitive, identical rows hints to an air of minimalism, or how the simplest of figures can be marvelously expansive. His usage of tape called for a multitude of possibilities, as seen in other works where he seems to grow crystals or enlarge the smallest of molecules. Foust’s usage of geometric progression in his tape folds are highly intricate, reflecting our universe as a whole.

Steve Foust received his art education from Wayne State University, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1971 and later his M.F.A. in 1974. As a pioneer of the Cass Corridor art movement, he took a studio at the Convention Hall on Cass Avenue between Forest and Canfield in the early seventies before moving to the Common Ground studio on Cass Avenue between Willis and Canfield in 1974. By 1976, he moved to New York to continue his artistic endeavours.

Foust’s art has been shown in numerous exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at the Willis Gallery in Detroit and at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1976, he received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and in 1977-80 was recognized as a Cultural Council Foundation artist. He still utilizes scientific and mathematical methods to create form in his artmaking today.

This piece was donated to Wayne State University’s Art Collection by James Pearson Duffy in 2008.

-Written by Marissa N. Gannascoli- 

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