Sean Scully Lines of Emotion

Sean Scully is regarded as one of the most significant figures in abstract painting since 1960. His work is characterised by a continuous reflection on himself and the outside world, which he explores not only in his artistic practice but also in numerous writings. Since the 1980s, Scully has increasingly established himself as a ‘painter-sculptor’ or ‘painter-sculptor-writer’. With this approach, he breaks through the two-dimensional, rectangular, enclosed picture and develops physical pictorial forms that penetrate the space and merge into large, spatially expansive sculptures.

This spatially oriented approach forms the starting point for an installation in the cloister exhibition area of the Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, which incorporates all four sides of the cloister. For this project, the artist has systematically reviewed and selected works from his own body of work.

Scully drew influence and inspiration not only from modern and abstract painters, but also from his travels to Morocco and Mexico. These journeys had a particular influence on his use of colour and light, leading him to increasingly embrace vibrant, intense hues and powerful lighting effects. In doing so, he began to conceive of colour not merely as a painterly medium, but as an almost anthropomorphic, physical structure which, in interplay with light, unfolds its own, almost atmospheric presence.

Alongside major central series such as Doric and Outside In, the exhibition also features works from more recent series such as Eleuthera.