10 December 2019 – 23 February 2020
Opening: Tuesday 10 December, 6pm
AV Gallery, Photography Gallery and Upper Foyer
Nocturne – Selected Wanderings 2004-2019 is a survey of Sam Foley’s night works, spanning sixteen years. It features eighteen paintings from public, private and artist collections. Since his first foray into the leafy monochrome of Dunedin’s Town Belt he has kept coming back to the theme of ‘Night’. From the alleyways of his hometown Dunedin, to a snow-swept hill in Edinburgh, to the friendly corner bar in Berlin, Foley explores darkness in all its various landscapes.
It is night. The path before me stretches down, and with a weight bearing on my shoulders I follow its course with staggered steps. The sienna glow of street light filtered through leaf and branch obscures, yet points the way. I follow the path. It is all I can do.
I still remember the dream, the day I chose to act it out on canvas and my practice took a darker turn. It was cathartic. At the time I was going through a serious relationship breakdown and it hurt. The dream felt very connected and the motivation was painting as exorcism. I have never looked back.
Revelation. Up until that point, and with hindsight’s benefit it’s obvious, I had been searching for a subject, a subject I could really sink into. Dunedin’s Town Belt became the matter and formed the basis for a new way of working. Until then I had been using oil paint almost like a water-colourist, applying very thin layers, emulating a photograph with fine coats of colour over a white background. When forced to describe areas of deep shadow, through the winding roads and laneways of the streetlamp-lit green belt, texture became my companion. Impasto. Thick layers of dark paint that reflect and shimmer, perpetually changing as day gives way to night.
This was the way back to the light.
Sam Foley, 2019
Sam Foley, Maori Rd, Dunedin, 2004, oil on canvas, 1400 x 1250mm; Sam Foley, Berlin Rock Bar, 2018, oil on canvas, 250 x 180mm. Images courtesy of the artist.