Ellis D Fogg

Ellis D Fogg was the pseudonym of the Australian artist Roger Foley (born 24 January 1942). Now known as Roger Foley-Fogg, the National Film and Sound Archive have described him as Australia's "most innovative lighting designer and lumino kinetic sculptor." And Albie Thoms founder of friendly rival Lightshow group UBU said: ... "Fogg is later recognised as Sydney's leading lightshow artist". The term Lumino kinetic art was first used in 1966 by Frank Popper, Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Paris.^[1]

Early life[]

Foley was born in Cairns, Queensland and attended Newington College (1957–1959).^[2] In the late 1950s he was encouraged by his mother to expand his interest in art, attending Joy and Betty Rainer's art and craft classes in Mosman, experimenting with light and shadow through bathroom glass and with light diffracted through the leaves of trees. In the 1960s he started designing rock concerts and psychedelic light shows achieving a high degree of success. Albie Thoms founder of friendly rival Lightshow group UBU says: ... "Fogg is later recognised as Sydney's leading lightshow artist" ^[3] His experimental light shows incorporating his Light Sculpture - Lumino Kinetic sculpture through to the 1970s were precursors to present multi-media installation.

Yellow House[]

He was one of a group of artists who worked and exhibited at the Yellow House Artist Collective in Potts Point. The Yellow House was founded by artist Martin Sharp and between 1970 and 1973 was a piece of living art and a mecca to pop art. The canvas was the house itself and almost every wall, floor and ceiling became part of the gallery. Many well-known artists, including George Gittoes, Brett Whiteley, Peter Kingston, Albie Thoms and Greg Weight, helped to create the multi-media performance art space that may have been Australia's first 24-hour-a-day happening.^[4] For a full list of Yellow House artists see the Yellow House catalogue published by Albie Thoms in 1971 and reprinted by Roger Foley-Fogg in 2013 and referred to in^[5]

Current work[]

While continuing as an artist, Foley is a producer of light shows and light sculpture for festivals and events. He was part of the Yellow House Retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1990 and was a finalist in the Blake Prize for Religious Art in 2003 and 2007 and the associated Directors Cut Exhibition during 2014. He continues to design and construct The Christmas Tree of Light and Laughter for Darling Harbour each year, and exhibited his Lumino Kinetic Sculpture in 5 Galleries during 2014.

For more information see his website at www.fogg.com.au. And for a comprehensive review of his work to date see Julian Leatherdale, Still Turned On: Illuminating the many facets of light artist Roger Foley-Fogg, OZARTS Magazine, Autumn Edition, 2014

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Mr Fogg's Music Hall, Jim Anderson (2007)
• Teen Riots to Generation X - The Australian Rock Audience, Peter Cox & Louise Douglas (Powerhouse Publishing, 1993)
• The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock & Roll, Toby Creswell & Martin Fabinyi (Random House, 1999)
• Festival and Event Management, I McDonnell, J Allen & W O'Toole (Jacaranda Wiley Ltd, 1999) pp 252–253 & 258
• Ubu Films - Sydney Underground Movies 1965-1970, Peter Mudie (UNSW Press, 1997)
• Polemics for a New Cinema, Albie Thoms (Wild and Wooley, 1977)
• Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, Don Watson (Random House 2002) pp 333–337
• Kevin Kearney - Audio Artist, Sound Designer, Analogue Location Sound Recordist Vol. One, Brody T. Lorraine (iUniverse, USA, 2007) pp 91 & 107