Jean Foos (b. 1953, Rochester, NY) holds a B.F.A. from The Cooper Union and an M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art and Archit. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Queens Council on the Arts, and New York City Artist Corps (NYFA, DCLA and Mayor’s Office). Foos has been awarded artist studio residencies at 4heads on Governors Island, Culture Lab LIC, Whitney Museum ISP, Provincetown Workshop, and Temple University Abroad, Rome.
Primarily an abstract painter, Jean Foos additionally develops relief sculptures and installations exploring and expanding the same grid structure and tactile qualities which can be found in her paintings. Her varied and reductive visual language transforms found objects and commercial packaging. For her installations, Foos favors ad hoc urban settings such as long-abandoned buildings and community gardens. Foos' work was first shown at Hal Bromm Gallery in the 2020 “COLOR'' group exhibition and again in the 2021 “Metamorphosis'' group exhibition.
Along with her fine art practice, Foos has a passion for graphic design that archives and elevates the work of her fellow artists: poets, painters, photographers, and performers. In 1990, Foos worked with her friend and fellow artist David Wojnarowicz to create the catalog and poster for his Tongues of Flame solo exhibition at Illinois State University. Her most recent publication celebrates a 30-year collaboration with poets Jessica Grim and Melanie Neilson titled “Alsop’s Tables''. Foos lives and works in New York City.