William Foyle

Self Portraits

25th - 27th October 2017

Ross’s, Montgomery Street, Belfast, BT1 4NX

Curated by Daniel and Angus Clarke

Foreword by Dickon Hall

The apparent simplicity of self-portraiture conceals one of the most complex genres in which an artist works, one which has many motivations and which establishes a very particular relationship between the artist and the viewer.

This exhibition by William Foyle is made up of a group of self-portraits, most of which were completed over a short period of around twelve months, forming a particularly intense and revealing self-analysis. Nearly every image concentrates solely on the artist’s head, pushing it into direct confrontation with the viewer on a lifelike scale. There are rarely other distractions, such as studio props or compositions that include a fuller figure, to distract from the intensity of this engagement.

Yet there are constantly shifting dynamics across this series of paintings, drawings and prints, evoking particular associations and suggesting an accompanying change in their mood. The artist’s own frustration with the slow narrowing-in on the single truthful image can be sensed throughout the exhibition as he moves closer or further away, or stares back from a new angle as if trying to see something that has not yet been captured on the sheet or canvas.

There are a range of media used and some images appear to be quickly, spontaneously achieved, while at other times a slower accumulation of the paint surface demonstrates another change in his process. Occasionally there is more concern to create a likeness, which is then almost obliterated in other works. But the control evident across these self-portraits, the awareness of mark-making and of the relationship of the image to the mark, is particularly striking given the artist’s age at the time.

This is a direct and highly personal body of work, a journey to which the viewer is drawn in, and which also demonstrates a great interest in the history and the nature of self-portraiture itself. 

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