Josh Faught

At long last, I’m pleased to announce the launch of my limited edition sweater project, The Center for Experimental Sweaters. We will see how this goes but the idea is that each edition will consist of 4 sweaters, produced in conversation with themes throughout the rest of my work. ➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿ The pansy has long been an icon for sexual difference, specifically for gay men. First cultivated in the 19th century, the pansy became the symbol for humanist and free thought movements, due to the etymological roots of the word: pensée, the French word for thought. Throughout the 20th century, the word evolved into a derogatory slur for gay men: suggestive of someone who is non-masculine and delicate. At the same time, the flower has become a touchstone for the gay community as a transgressive symbol of visibility and reclamation. Evidence of this history can be found as early as the 1920s in the Pansy Craze, a brief golden age for drag clubs and gay friendly bars. The Pansy Sweater Vest has been designed as a “coffin sweater,” a term used to describe a construction strategy in “fast fashion” where a garment is designed only on one side for efficiency. There’s something compelling about using a cost-cutting measure to ventriloquize larger narratives around loss and identity construction. This is a very small edition of 4 sweaters. Each sweater has been hand knit on a single bed Brother KH-940 Knitting Machine, using Jaggerspun Maine Line wool yarns. Once the edition is gone, there will be no additional sweaters in this pattern. All sweaters have been designed to fit the artist’s body. The measurements are as follows: 41” chest 17” shoulder to shoulder 8” neck 26.75” total length hem to armhole: 13.5” 2.5” bottom hem 1” neck and arm band All sweaters arrive folded in a hand dyed draw string bag with a hand numbered, signed, limited edition Riso printed certificate of authenticity. Sweaters are shipped Priority USPS. Please allow 3-5 days for processing and 2-3 days for shipping (6-10 days international). Purchases can be made directly through my new site: centerforexperimentalsweaters.bigcartel.com #thecenterforexperimentalsweaters @experimental_sweaters

At long last! A new sweater from the Center for Experimental Sweaters! Josh’s 2026 Green Carnation Sweater Vest The green carnation became a queer symbol during the Victorian Era when Oscar Wilde instructed a handful of his friends to wear them on their lapels to the opening night of his comedy, “Lady Windermere’s Fan.” In this capacity, wearing a green carnation on your left lapel was a secret, subtle hint that you were a man who loved another man. While not a naturally occuring flower in the wild, green carnations are popular in floral arrangements as either a cultivated variety or by dyeing white carnations to produce a novelty color. The Green Carnation Sweater Vest has been designed as a “coffin sweater,” a term used to describe a construction strategy in “fast fashion” where a garment is designed only on one side for efficiency. There’s something compelling about using a cost-cutting measure to ventriloquize larger narratives around loss and identity construction. Edition of 4. Each sweater is accompanied by a hand dyed, draw string bag and a RISO printed hand numbered, hand signed certificate of authenticity. All sweaters feature a unique pin. The pin on the vest in the photo reads, “Who Killed Karen Silkwood?” All sweaters are sized to fit the artist. 100 percent wool, knit from @cascadeyarns on a Brother KH-940 knitting machine. 41” chest 17” shoulder to shoulder 8” neck 26.75” total length hem to armhole: 13.5” 2.5” bottom hem 1” neck and arm bands

Well, it’s official. After 16 years teaching at CCA, it was announced that the college will be closing after the spring 2027 semester. I’m crushed and a bit in shock. That said, I’m on the job market so keep your eyes and ears open universe! Onward…

Honored to be included in @danielfountainart Queer Crafts: Material Practices and the Making of Identity!

Meet one of our twenty 2025 Stepping Stone Grantees Josh Faught @hjfaught Lives and works in Sacramento, CA 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. Images: 1. Josh Faught, Photographed by John Wilson White 2. Installation, Look Across the Water Into the Darkness, Look for the Fog, The Wattis Institute for the Arts, 2022, Mixed Media installation against custom wallpaper, an abstraction appropriated from the derelict abandoned home of Liza Minelli, Variable 3. Sanctuary (detail), 2025, Site-specific textile for St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, commissioned by Western Bridge, Seattle., Hand-woven, hand-dyed cotton, hemp, and gold lamé; scrapbooking stickers; the entire 1999 season of the soap opera Passions (DVD); the sheet music for the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame”; the sheet music for Peter Hallock’s “A Song of Deliverance”; advertisements for The Monastery (The Sanctuary); issue six of Pot Pourri, a sexual questionnaire for the “new age”; an advertisement for The Date-Record; giant clothespins, nail polish, and pins. 270 x 78 inches -Continued in comments-

Very grateful to receive a 2025 Stepping Stone Grant from the Trellis Art Fund among some deeply inspiring artists. My deepest gratitude to @trellisartfund and the nominator(s).

Thrilled to have six works on display @rubellmuseumdc this fall as part of their Material Witness exhibition! Many of these works haven’t been seen in almost 15 years!

Celebrating the messiness of our early twenties with @william.j.obrien in this touching testament to queer family and once in a lifetime friendships in Tiny Love Stories @nytimes (we weren’t that hungover) ❤️

Thank you @_emdash_ @ngbozicnik and @henryartgallery for producing this incredible mini publication for Sanctuary. The link can be found here: /henryartgallery/docs/a_conversation_with_josh_faught as well as in my bio.

For @henryartgallery Last day to see the show!! Josh Faught: Sanctuary @hjfaught Organized by @ngbozicnik with Em Chan

‘You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry’ is now on view at DC, and in celebration of their incredible work, we’re proud to spotlight each of the talented artists featured in this exhibition.⁠ ⁠ Josh Faught (@hjfaught ) is an American fiber artist and educator, who creates sculptures, textiles, collages, and paintings while embracing techniques such as knitting, crochet, and weaving. By incorporating materials from both institutional and personal archives, Faught reimagines systems of classification that assign social and cultural value, investigating how collective and individual identities are shaped and examining structures of social support and visibility.⁠ ⁠ Faught’s practice explores the conjunction between various histories and combines textiles, pop cultural detritus, and archival materials to address the topics of craft and queer history, as well as the relationships between language, community, and constructions of identity.⁠ ⁠ ‘You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry’ is curated by guest curator Su Wu (@imrevolting ).⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Josh Faught, ‘A Life Well Lived in the Best Revenge’, 2022. Hand bleached, hand dyed, hand woven hemp and cotton on stretched linen. 101 1/8 x 41 3/8 x 3 1/2 in (257 x 105 x 9 cm). Photo by Kevin Todora. Courtesy of the artist and Kendall Koppe, Glasgow.⁠ ⁠ Josh Faught, ‘Bereaved on a Budget’, 2022. Hand dyed, bleached, and woven hemp; woven list of materials used in the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on stretched linen. 72 7/8 x 21 1/4 x 4 3/4 in (185 x 54 x 12 cm). Photo by Kevin Todora. Courtesy of the artist and Kendall Koppe, Glasgow.

Thank you @sculpture_magazine and Matthew Kangas for this lovely review of my exhibition @henryartgallery ! Link for review in bio