WHAT I PAINT IS HISTORY
04.10.26>22.11.26
The Gallery of Everything presents the first solo exhibition in the UK dedicated to Sam Doyle (1906–1985), one of the most distinctive figures in twentieth-century African-American art. Bringing together over 20 paintings and sculptures, many on public display for the first time, the exhibition reflects Doyle’s singular practice and his role as a visual chronicler of St Helena Island, South Carolina. His work records a community shaped by the island’s histories of slavery and emancipation and the emergence of a self-determined Black community, preserving its people, beliefs and stories through an intensely personal visual language.
Working with house paint on corrugated roofing tin, sheet metal and found lumber, Doyle created a largely figurative body of work centred on the people and histories of his immediate surroundings. Friends, neighbours and local heroes appeared alongside historical events and celebrated figures of Black American culture, politics and sport. Displayed across the frontage of his home, the works formed what Doyle christened the St Helena Outdoor Art Gallery. Together, they occupied a space between private history, public memorial and personal testimony, creating a living archive of the island’s distinctive Gullah culture, whose stories, traditions and language were deeply embedded in Doyle’s life and work.
The exhibition brings together rarely seen portraits of local figures alongside religious and historical subjects drawn from across Doyle’s practice. Among the highlights is a rare depiction of Dr Buz (also known as Dr Buzzard), the legendary healer and root doctor of St Helena Island, who was said to communicate with spirits through a conch shell. A recurring figure in Doyle’s work, Dr Buz also provides a fascinating connection to Jean-Michel Basquiat: another depiction was acquired by Basquiat and later gifted to Andy Warhol.
Doyle’s work reached a wider audience following his inclusion in the landmark exhibition Black Folk Art in America: 1930–1980 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1982. It was subsequently at Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta that Jean-Michel Basquiat encountered Doyle’s work, acquiring several pieces which he displayed prominently in his New York studio. Basquiat’s
engagement with Doyle extended beyond his own collection, introducing his work to figures within his circle, including Andy Warhol and Fab 5 Freddy.
Today, Doyle is widely regarded as a central figure in twentieth-century African-American art. Recent exhibitions include Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2024), and Souls Grown Deep Like the Rivers at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2023). His work is represented in major institutional collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art; Smithsonian American Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; High Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Pérez Art Museum Miami; and American Folk Art Museum.