Sam Foley: Moving image paintings

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Tilting at the heart of the beast, 2012 (Berlin)

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Te Tahi Bay 2015

I first saw Sam Foley’s Berlin street scene at Pah Homestead in Auckland in 2012 where it won a  Wallace Art Award. This, along with images of Titahi Bay and other familiar places are included in this fine exhibition at Pataka. The combination of oil painting, projection and sound really works in this space. I must however point out that my partner Jay Hollows is Gallery Supervisor and helped Sam with the technical set up. So I have a bias, but this work is still really stunning.

 

James Harcourt – Climate Change Refugees, Pātaka Art Gallery & Museum

Today I chanced upon a performance in the spine (the central walk through area) of Pātaka Art Gallery & Museum in Porirua. It was part of James Harcourt’s exhibition in the Toi Gallery, with a climate change theme. Dancers and drummers wearing masks performed a choreographed routine. The masks are the feature of the exhibition, and are painted on nikau palm. They really look quite brilliant. They represent climate change refugees, human and animal, to ask ‘where are we going?’ Well worth a visit, and check out the Whitireia Grad exhibition and the Wallace Art Awards as well as the social history ‘Made in Porirua’ while you’re at it.

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