John Foubister is an artist who lives and works on the lands of the Ngarrindjeri and Ramindjeri people in Goolwa, South Australia.

His art practice is painting based. Over the past 35 years John has exhibited extensively both as a solo artist and in group exhibitions locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Recent projects include the exhibition Ken Whisson and John Foubister: Going Back In, at Heide MOMA, Melbourne (2026), solo exhibitions at Maunsell Wickes Gallery, Sydney (2023 & 2024), Parts of a Place at Adelaide Central School of Art Gallery (2023), Belief in doubt, West Gallery Thebarton (2019) and several group exhibitions in Adelaide and regional South Australia. 

John’s paintings combine figurative and abstract elements, often drawn from nature. An animist belief system, in which all life is invested with spirit, informs his approach.  

“To my mind our world is an infinitely complex and wondrous place. Both our perception of it, and our imaginings of what might exist beyond our perceptual capability. It is intriguing to me that we all remain entranced by the beauty of nature as if tourists in our own backyards.

In my work I strive to re-present my experience of the natural world as somewhere newly discovered, and to render it less familiar with a heightened intimacy and sensuality. I characterise my process as one involving ‘scratching away’, ‘teasing apart’ and ‘burrowing in’.”

Alongside his art practice, John has worked with people with intellectual disabilities, people in a homeless centre, and people on a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. He has curated numerous exhibitions of the work of artists living with disability. John’s paintings have been shortlisted for a number of art prizes and are held in private and public collections in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Asia.