Foley was born in Cairns, Queensland and attended Newington College (1957–1959).[3] 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. His nickname at school was Fogg. It derived from his ethereal way of pondering things. LSD was legal in Australia until 1969. The name Ellis D. Fogg represented a collective. It wasn’t just about him. People would come up after his shows and want to meet Mr Fogg. He would sometimes say that was his father and he had gone home to watch the television.[1] In the 1960s he started designing rock concerts and psychedelic light shows. Albie Thoms, founder of rival Lightshow group UBU, said "Fogg is later recognised as Sydney's leading lightshow artist".[4] His experimental light shows incorporating his Light Sculpture – Lumino Kinetic sculpture through to the 1970s were precursors to present multi-media installation.
He was one of a group of artists who worked and exhibited at the Yellow House Artist CollectiveinPotts 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.[5][1]
