Sam Foley (born 1977) is a contemporary New Zealand

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

. His often large, finely detailed paintings portray nature and urban landscapes, combining aspects of

hyper-realism Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. Hyperrealism is considered an advancement of photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures. The term is primarily app ...

and

photo-realism Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another Medium (arts), medium. Although ...

Life and career

Sam Foley was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and in 1998 received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Otago School of Art in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. In 2007 he won a Merit Award (1st equal) at the Parklane Art Awards in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, with his painting ''Pathway at Night.'' He was awarded twice (2008 – 2009) the Peoples Choice Award at the Norfolk House Realist Invitational in Dunedin, and twice (2009 – 2010) the Peoples Choice Award at The

Wallace Art Awards The annual Wallace Art Awards are the largest and longest-running art awards of their type in New Zealand. They were established by James Wallace in 1992. Awards are made for contemporary painting, sculpture and photography and are run by the J ...

in Auckland. In 2013 he won The Kaipara Wallace Arts Trust Award, with his painting ''Tilting at the Beast.'' The award founder and arts patron Sir James Wallace acquired one of Foley's

kinetic Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory of gases, Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to i ...

paintings entitled ''Opoho Intersection No.1.'' Since 2008 he has visited Europe regularly, spending extensive periods of time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and attending residencies in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His works can be found in several private and public art collections such as the

Dunedin International Airport Dunedin Airport , officially Dunedin International Airport, also known as Momona Airport, is an international airport in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand, serving Dunedin city and the Otago and Southland regions. Dunedin Airpo ...

collection, the Historic Places Trust of New South Wales in Australia, The

ASB Bank ASB Bank Limited, commonly stylised as ASB, is a bank owned by Commonwealth Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, operating in New Zealand. It provides a range of financial services including retail, business and rural banking, funds managem ...

in Auckland, The Wallace Trust in Auckland, The Central Library and Salmond College in the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Moving Image Paintings

In 2008 Foley embarked on a 10-week research tour in Europe where he visited more than 30 major museums and galleries. Most of the contemporary galleries had a dedicated moving image section which brought up the idea how to incorporate moving image onto his work. At the end of his research tour Foley returned to New Zealand and started experimenting in his studio with video projections onto his paintings. He recorded video footage of the landscapes he was painting and projected those onto the finished painting. The result was a 'moving image painting' which transports the viewer into the painting for a more immersive experience.

Selected exhibitions

* 2017 - Dowling Street, The Artist's Room, Dunedin, NZ *2016 - LAKE, Artbay Gallery, Queenstown, NZ *2016 - Rennande Vatn (Running Water), S9 Galeri, Oslo, Norway *2015 - Moving Image Paintings, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua, NZ *2015 - Something About the Water, Galerie 9, Solothurn, Switzerland *2014 - Harbour, The Artist's Room and Dowling St Studios, Dunedin, NZ *2014 - Kontraste, Galerie 9, Solothurn, Switzerland *2013 - Into the Deep, Whitespace, Auckland *2012 - Running Water, Dowling St Studios, Dunedin *2011 - Tiefschwarz, The Artist's Room, Dunedin

Awards

* 2013 - The Kaipara Wallace Arts Trust Award * 2010 - Peoples Choice Award, The Wallace Art Awards, Auckland * 2009 - Peoples Choice Award, The Wallace Art Awards, Auckland * 2009 - Peoples Choice Award, Norfolk House Realist Invitational, Dunedin * 2008 - Peoples Choice Award, Norfolk House Realist Invitational, Dunedin * 2007 - Merit Award (1st equal), Parklane Art Awards, Auckland * 2006 - Highly commended, Park Lane Art Awards, Auckland * 2005 - The Downie Stewart Peoples Choice Award, Cleveland Art Awards, Dunedin * 2003 - Peoples Choice Award, Cleveland Art Awards, Dunedin * 1998 - Merit Award, Oil on Canvas, Southland Young Contemporaries, Invercargill

Works permanently displayed in collections

* Ackerselva Day Study I - 2016 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection * Ackerselva Day Study II - 2016 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection * Urban Scrawl II - 2016 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection * Ackerselva Night Study VI - 2016 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection *Te Tahi Bay - 2015 - Pataka Art + Museum * Tilting at the Beast - 2012 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection * Otira Gorge 2011 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection *Railway Yard, Ashburton - 2010 - Ashburton Art Gallery * Edinburgh Study II - 2010 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection *Intersection - 2008 - The Wallace Arts Trust Collection * Registry Building - 2004 - University of Otago Art Collection * Divergence, St Kilda Beach - 2002 - University of Otago Art Collection * St Clair from St Kilda - 2002 - University of Otago Art Collection *Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Otago Peninsula - 2002 - University of Otago Art Collection *Old Lime Kiln, Otago Peninsula - 2002 - University of Otago Art Collection *Mapoutahi Pa Site, Dunedin - 2002 - University of Otago Art Collection *Wreck of the Miniwi - 2003 - Historic Places Trust of New South Wales *Flagstaff looking South - 2005 - Dunedin International Airport *On the Surface VII - 2008 - ASB Bank

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Sam 1977 births Living people Artists from Wellington City New Zealand painters