Sculptures by Doyle Foreman: A Retrospective celebrates the career of metal sculptor and UC Santa Cruz Professor Emeritus Doyle Foreman. Throughout his seven-decade career, Foreman sculpted visceral reflections of his experiences with metal and the American landscape, forging a unique path in American Black sculpture.
Doyle Foreman’s earliest memories of art making are grounded in the red soil of the unpaved streets of Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he was born, in Chickasaw Nation Territory, in 1933. While caring for a large brood of children, Foreman’s mother tried to keep him busy by giving him small clumps of clay to play with, from the rich vermillion port silt loam soil. His vast natural play place sparked an early interest in creative form, as he would play around with the natural clay for fun.
Doyle Foreman studied sculpture at Arizona State University, where he was heavily influenced by J. Eugene Grisby’s abstract painting style. Grisby (1918-2013) introduced Foreman to a variety of artists and artistic styles, and became a lifelong mentor. Doyle Foreman attributes his love of German artist Max Ernst (1891-1976) oeuvre to J. Eugene Grisby. Ernst’s artistic practice of creating surfaces with relief and texture rubbed from objects (frottage) can be seen in Foreman’s artsworks Naolinco and Spirits of Acatlan.
Doyle Foreman began teaching sculpture and foundry classes at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1968. Three years after the school was established, he was the third art professor to be hired and the first African American professor. Here he met his peer, artistic collaborator, and close friend, Eduardo Carrillo, who also taught in the art department. For the first six years of bronze work classes, he performed metal pours in the historic Blacksmith Barn at the base of campus. In 1974, Foreman established the metal foundry in the art department. Fifty years later, the foundry is a permanent and flourishing fixture of the campus, offering bronze sculpture classes to undergraduates. It is the only remaining metal foundry across University of California system, providing an invaluable resource to young artists. Doyle retired in 2001, and Doyle’s own students are now teaching foundry classes and maintain the utmost respect and appreciation for the artist. His own studio is located in his home near the campus. Doyle Foreman is a beloved fixture of the artistic community in Santa Cruz and his public art installation, the Totem Pole at Porter College, is a reminder of this collaborative relationship with undergraduates and artists.