Roughness is more lifelike than precise abstraction

They’re crude rectangles! Anyone who passes such a hasty judgement on a painting by Sean Scully fails to recognise its stupendous virtuosity and misses out on savouring the colours and marvelling at a painterly vision, the intent of which is not immediately apparent.

A U-turn towards something new
What lies behind this? When he moved to the US in the early 1970s, he encountered Minimalism and realised that it was based on reduction; consequently, at some point, there would be nothing left, says Sean Scully at the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, which is dedicating its summer exhibition at Mirabellplatz to the artist. He saw only two ways forward: “Either I return to figurative painting” or I find a “new form of abstract painting”. He opted for the latter – a U-turn.

“I rough it all up!”
Where to? Towards German Expressionism, Impressionism, the 15th century – wherever, says Sean Scully. He cites Mark Rothko as an ally in the quest to bring abstraction out of its aloofness. And he admits: his aim is to convey a longing for the figurative – so intense that it hurts. His other watchword against abstraction, its precise geometry and austere colours, is ‘impurity’. Nothing should be perfect, says Sean Scully. “I rough everything up!”

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Surreal and humorous
A sense for experience is also the key point in the second Ropac exhibition: the Swiss artist Not Vital has filled the hall in Sam with self-portraits that are sometimes humorous, but mostly surreal. Surrealism is the greatest invention of the 20th century, says Not Vital. Through a variety of playful ideas, he encourages visitors to explore the question: what would that feel like?