Artists/Sean Scully

Sean Scully's exploration of human relationships and emotions in his art reveals a deep engagement with the complexities of interpersonal connections and the human condition. His works, often abstract, are imbued with narratives and symbols that speak to the intricacies of relationships and emotional experiences. This theme is evident in several key aspects of his oeuvre, showcasing how abstraction can convey profound emotional and relational depth.

Scully's paintings often incorporate geometric forms, such as colored blocks and panels, to symbolize and explore the intimacy and dynamics of human relationships. The use of these forms can suggest connections, separations, and the emotional ties that bind individuals together. For instance, in works like "Paul" and "Catherine," Scully uses abstract compositions to reflect personal stories and relationships, imbuing his artworks with a narrative and emotional weight that transcends their abstract form​ (The Art Story)​.

The emotional depth in Scully's work is further enriched by his life experiences, as seen in his sculptures and paintings that draw from personal stories, such as the memory of his father making stacks of coins, symbolizing security and the familial watch over their collective fortunes​ (DailyArt Magazine)​. Scully's work on the theme of windows, particularly in pieces like "Empty Heart," painted for his son who passed away, showcases his ability to convey loss and the feeling of absence through abstract forms. These windows act not just as architectural elements but as metaphors for loss, emptiness, and the emotional voids left by loved ones​ (DailyArt Magazine)​.

Moreover, Scully's interest in the idea of abstraction as a promoter of tolerance highlights his belief in the power of abstract art to foster a more open, flexible mindset. By engaging with abstract rhythms and structures, Scully posits that abstraction can mirror the complexities of life and human connections, promoting a sense of unity and understanding across diverse experiences​ (DailyArt Magazine)​.

Sean Scully’s art, characterized by its emotional depth and the exploration of human relationships through abstraction, invites viewers to reflect on the universal experiences of love, loss, and connection. Through his innovative use of form, color, and composition, Scully demonstrates that abstract art can indeed be deeply personal and profoundly human.

Sean Scully's engagement with the concept of the sublime is evident in his "Landline" series, where he employs thick gestural brushstrokes across horizontal stripes to evoke natural horizons. This series reflects Scully’s intent to bridge the logical with the romantic, aiming to "rescue abstraction from the abstract." His comparison of looking at the sea to experiences at Ireland's Aran Islands underscores his fascination with the elemental confluence of land, sea, and sky. Scully’s work in this regard brings to mind the color fields of Mark Rothko and offers a more organic approach to stripes, reminiscent of Gene Davis, yet deeply anchored in the natural world that initially inspired them​ (Smithsonian Magazine)​.

Scully's sculptures, particularly noted in his exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and discussed by Edward Lucie-Smith, also resonate with the theme of the sublime. Works like "Wall Dale Cubed," inspired by stone walls on the Isle of Aran, and large Corten steel sculptures, serve not only as monumental art forms but also as sophisticated meditations on nature, architecture, and the infinite. These sculptures, alongside his paintings, invite viewers to delve into vast landscapes or to stand before the sea at dusk, contemplating the endless horizon​ (Artlyst)​.

Moreover, Scully's broader artistic philosophy underscores a seamless blend between abstract forms and profound narratives of life, as depicted through various mediums. His work transcends cultural and temporal boundaries, resonating with global audiences by tapping into universal themes of nature, architecture, and human emotion. Scully’s success lies in his ability to evoke the sublime through abstraction, offering a gateway for viewers to experience the profound beauty and complexity of the natural world​ (DailyArt Magazine)​.

Through his exploration of the sublime, Sean Scully encourages viewers to engage with abstraction on a deeply emotional and intellectual level, reminding us of the inherent connections between the natural world, art, and the human experience.

Sean Scully's "Floating Paintings" are a captivating fusion of painting and sculpture that challenge conventional categorizations within the art world. These works are characterized by their unique mode of display, attached to the gallery wall by one edge, causing them to project outward into the gallery space. This innovative presentation blurs the lines between the two-dimensional realm of painting and the three-dimensional domain of sculpture, creating a dynamic interplay between the artwork and its surrounding environment​ (The Art Story)​.

The surface of these paintings is adorned with Scully's signature hand-painted vertical stripes, imbuing the works with a sense of rhythm and movement. Despite their resemblance to the minimalist wall-mounted sculptures of Donald Judd or the painted objects by sculptor Catherine Lee, Scully insists on defining these pieces as paintings. He highlights their transient quality, noting that they "occupy space, but at the same time they vanish, they disappear," likening their protrusion into the gallery space to "a shark fin in water"​ (The Art Story)​.

Furthermore, Scully imbues these works with an emotional depth that stands in contrast to the often impersonal nature of minimalist art. The visible brushstrokes and the tactile quality of the paintwork lend a human, imperfect aspect to the paintings, eliciting an emotional response from viewers. Scully is fascinated by the potential for these pieces to create an illusion of architectural forms or bands of light, enriching the viewer's experience of space and form​ (The Art Story)​.

In creating the "Floating Paintings," Scully continues to explore themes central to his broader oeuvre, such as the relationship between color, form, and emotion, while also pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms. This innovative approach reflects Scully's ongoing interest in challenging the conventions of abstraction and his commitment to exploring the emotive possibilities of geometric forms​ (The Art Story)​.

Sean Scully's quest to unify the logical and the romantic in art is deeply rooted in his personal philosophy and his response to the world around him. His Landline series exemplifies this approach, blending thick gestural brushstrokes with horizontal stripes to evoke natural horizons, thereby marrying the tangible with the emotional. Scully himself has spoken about his aim to reconcile these historically opposing tendencies, describing his work as an effort to "rescue abstraction from the abstract." This ambition is further illuminated through his reflections on the elemental convergence of land, sea, and sky, showcasing his unique ability to encapsulate the vastness of the natural world and the intricacies of human emotion within the bounds of abstraction​ (Smithsonian Magazine)​.

The exhibition "Sean Scully: Inside Outside" at Yorkshire Sculpture Park offered a comprehensive view of how Scully's work, encompassing both sculptures and paintings, delves into the dialogue between landscape and abstraction, all the while resonating with human experience. At 72, Scully's undiminished vigor and his labor-intensive approach to art-making were highlighted, presenting him as an artist continuously engaging with and redefining abstract painting. This exhibition not only showcased his prolific output but also emphasized his belief in art's capacity for perpetual discovery​ (Art in Yorkshire)​.

These endeavors underline Scully's significant position in contemporary art, where he is credited with revitalizing abstract painting by fusing European traditions with the scale and character of American art. Despite his association with abstraction, Scully's work is imbued with a romantic sincerity, linking him to a broader tradition of landscape painting. This duality in his work—between the geometric and the gestural, the structural and the emotive—reflects his broader goal of bridging the logical with the romantic, offering viewers a complex, layered experience of abstraction that is deeply human at its core​ (Art in Yorkshire)​.

Sean Scully's art is deeply influenced by natural horizons, a theme that permeates much of his work, notably in his Landline series. This series showcases paintings that feature horizontal stripes in thick, gestural brushstrokes, evoking the essence of natural horizons and blending the color fields reminiscent of Mark Rothko with a more organic approach to stripes, akin to Gene Davis's style. These works not only represent Scully's visual interpretation of landscapes but also embody his effort to bridge the gap between the logical and the romantic within art. He describes this endeavor as an attempt to "rescue abstraction from the abstract," offering viewers a sense of the elemental convergence of land, sea, and sky. Through this, Scully creates a dialogue between the tangible world and the abstract, allowing for a deep, immersive experience that mirrors the natural horizons that inspired these pieces​ (Smithsonian Magazine)​.

Scully's engagement with the theme of natural horizons and their influence on his work is further elucidated through his own reflections and the emotional depth found within his art. Following personal tragedies, Scully's work took on a more melancholic tone, with the physical application of paint and the arrangement of colored blocks and panels alluding to the complexities of human relationships and the sublime nature of the natural world. His larger canvases, such as those in the Landline series, are particularly notable for evoking the idea of the sublime, overwhelming the viewer with their emotional intensity and the physicality of the painted surface. This approach not only reflects Scully's personal experiences and emotional journey but also highlights his unique ability to convey the profound and often overwhelming beauty of the natural world through abstract forms​ (The Art Story)​.

Scully's art transcends simple visual representation, offering instead a deeply emotional and philosophical exploration of the world around us. His work invites viewers to consider the beauty of natural horizons not just as landscapes to be viewed but as experiences to be felt, blending the abstract with the tangible in a way that speaks to the core of human experience. Through his exploration of natural horizons, Scully continues to challenge and redefine the boundaries of abstract painting, making his work a vital contribution to contemporary art​ (DailyArt Magazine)​.

Sean Scully's departure from Minimalism to emotional abstraction marked a significant shift in his artistic journey, emphasizing human elements and expressive qualities in his work. Initially influenced by Minimalism and Op art upon moving to New York in the 1970s, Scully's early work engaged with these movements through the use of overlays and "supergrids." However, by the early 1980s, Scully began to feel constrained by Minimalism's limitations, seeking instead to reintroduce the capacity for paintings to evoke metaphor, spirituality, and human emotion. This shift became evident in his work, notably through the introduction of color, space, and freehand brushstrokes, moving away from the hard lines and monochrome palettes characteristic of his earlier minimalist pieces​ (Wikipedia)​.

The transformation in Scully's approach is vividly illustrated in his seminal painting "Backs and Fronts" (1981), which played a crucial role in his departure from Minimalism. This period in Scully's career was marked by a deliberate effort to imbue his abstract work with a deeper sense of human experience, moving towards what can be described as Emotional Abstraction. His subsequent works, characterized by layered, textured surfaces and a dynamic interplay of color, sought to bridge the divide between the abstract and the tangible, the emotional and the geometric​ (Wikipedia)​.

Scully's transition was also driven by his belief that art should directly engage with the complexities of human nature, which he felt was missing in the strictly geometric and detached approach of Minimalism. His "war with Minimalism" was not just a departure from its stylistic constraints but an ideological shift towards making abstract art more accessible, relatable, and infused with emotional depth and human experience. This philosophical stance underpins Scully's later work across various mediums, including painting, printmaking, and sculpture, showcasing his commitment to exploring the emotional and experiential potentials of abstraction​ (300Magazine)​.

Scully's evolution from Minimalism to a more expressive form of abstraction underscores his ongoing pursuit to challenge and expand the boundaries of abstract art, making his contributions invaluable to the contemporary art landscape. His work not only bridges the gap between different artistic movements but also demonstrates the power of abstract art to convey profound emotional and existential insights.

Sean Scully's journey through geometric abstraction is characterized by his unique approach of combining rigid geometry with expressive texture and color, creating artworks that resonate with emotional depth and complexity. After moving to New York in the 1970s, Scully was initially influenced by Minimalism and Op art, creating works that bridged these movements through the use of overlays and “supergrids.” However, by the early 1980s, Scully sought to infuse his work with more human elements, steering away from the strict confines of Minimalism to introduce a more metaphorical, referential, and spiritual dimension into his art​ (Wikipedia)​.

This shift became evident in works such as "Backs and Fronts" (1981), which marked a departure from Minimalism and signaled the beginning of Scully's exploration into emotional abstraction. Through the 1980s, Scully began to apply a combination of geometric forms with richly textured surfaces and vibrant color palettes. His work during this period, characterized by large-scale canvases and multi-panel works, reflected a deep engagement with the materiality of paint and the expressive potential of abstract forms​ (Wikipedia)​.

The Landline series, which Scully began in the mid-1990s, exemplifies his mature style, featuring horizontal stripes that evoke natural horizons while maintaining a dialogue between abstraction and figuration. These paintings, often created with thick, gestural brushstrokes, draw upon the colors and textures of the natural world, reflecting Scully's ongoing interest in the elemental connections between land, sea, and sky. Through this series, Scully continues to explore the boundaries of geometric abstraction, creating works that are both deeply personal and universally resonant​ (Smithsonian Magazine)​​ (The Art Story)​.

Scully's work, known for its emotional intensity and the dynamic interplay of form and color, challenges traditional boundaries between abstraction and representation. By integrating geometric structures with expressive, painterly techniques, Scully has carved a unique niche within the landscape of contemporary art, where his contributions continue to inspire and provoke thoughtful engagement with the possibilities of abstract painting​ (The Art Story)​​ (Wikipedia)​.

Sean Scully's exploration of light and architecture in his art, particularly through his Wall of Light series, marks a significant phase in his career, underscoring his mastery over color, light, gesture, and a range of emotional and narrative themes. This series, which is among Scully's most important to date, was inspired by his travels to Mexico in the early 1980s, where he was deeply moved by the patterns of light and shadows on ancient stone walls. Scully's fascination with Mayan stone walls—described as a "culture of walls and light"—led to the creation of the Wall of Light series, which began in 1998 after a period of reflection on his initial watercolor works inspired by these travels​ (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)​.

The Wall of Light series is characterized by rectangular, brick-like forms arranged in horizontal and vertical groupings, reminiscent of the ancient walls that inspired them. These forms are built up in layers, showcasing a wide range of luminous colors and varying degrees of light and darkness, embodying Scully's commitment to pure abstraction and its emotional power. The series is notable for its storytelling potential and its capacity to convey light, blending formal traditions of European painting with the aesthetic experience rooted in American abstraction​ (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)​.

Interestingly, while the Mexican genesis of the series is significant, many of the paintings in the series were created in Scully's studios across the globe, including New York, Barcelona, Munich, and London, each reflecting subtle differences in palette and tone influenced by the season and location of their creation. This body of work, which Scully continues to expand, consists of more than 200 works, demonstrating his innovative approach to abstract art that explores the interplay between architectural elements and the transformative power of light​ (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)​.

Throughout his career, Scully has been recognized for his ability to transcend the limitations of abstract painting by introducing elements of texture, structure, and color that evoke both architectural forms and the nuanced play of light across surfaces. His work in the Wall of Light series, and beyond, continues to engage and inspire, offering profound insights into the relationships between space, light, and color​ (The Art Story)​​ (Wikipedia)​.