Sean Scully: Away from the Sea Solo exhibition at He Art Museum in China

Sean Scully will present a solo exhibition Away from the Sea at the He Art Museum (HEM) from August 2 to October 27 2024. Featuring 40 paintings and sculptures created since the 1960s, the exhibition will trace the artist’s practice spanning over half a century in which he has created an influential body of work that has marked the development of contemporary abstraction. Fusing the traditions of European painting with the distinct character of American abstraction, his work combines painterly drama with great visual delicacy. Often structured around stripes or layered blocks of colour arranged on horizontal and vertical axes, the layers in his paintings attain a fine balance between calm reflection and an intrinsic vitality.

A forceful, physical artist, Scully creates intentionally compelling spaces, and his art is defined by acute concentration and care, involving constant negotiation between the monumental and the intimate. While giving primary importance to the physicality of the materials he employs, his art is commanded by the idea of humanity’s betterment, and at the heart of each rigorously composed work lies a near-infinite number of expressive, emotional fluctuations.