Jean Foos was born in Rochester, New York. She studied at Cooper Union, where she received her BFA in painting. She has an MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. Foos attended the Whitney Museum ISP. Her work has been shown in Berlin, Rome, San Francisco and New York. She received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and has twice been nominated for the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant. Her current studio is in Long Island City, NY.