Anthony Neal
Sean Scully
Art App
MW 2:00-3:15
1. artists name and biref info/bio. ( name, date of birth and location, current residence/studio location,;
education - degree and institution; type of artist ie painter, sculptor, digital/new media, etc.)
Sean Sully
Born Dublin, Ireland June, 30 1945
1949 Family moved to London
1965-1968 Crydon College of Art, London
1668-1972 Newcastle University
1972-1973 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1975 Moved to United States
Abstract,
2. Three images of artworks representative of the artist. Try to place 3 across the page and under each image
include (title, date, medium, location/collection of)
TT
Oil on Campus
1994
2008
Galerie Boisserée, J. & W. Boisserée GmbH
galleries
Wall of Light
September 26, 200
Timothy Taylor Gallery
mezzanine
3. Information regarding the artist and his/her work; focus, concepts, ideas, objectives, goals, etc. behind the
work; medium uses; special/unique aspects of the artist and work; influences upon the artist from the past;
and impact and influence the artist has / is making on the art world today; (comparative analysis on
relevance, impact and influence on art in the world.)
Scully's paintings are often made up of a number of panels and are abstract.
Scully paints in oils, sometimes laying the paint on quite thickly to create textured surfaces
Today he is one of the most widely acclaimed and exhibited painters in the world.
4. Researched quotes; minimum of 3 from publications, curators, art critics, etc, regarding the artist; assessing
and validating the artist and his/her work, and putting the artist into context. "Translate" the "art speak"
what is important, significant etc. about the artist and artwork;
a.
The rustic surfaces of Scully's paintings look like sawn timber. Again and again, I had to check
they were painted on canvas. A primitive strength, a Viking rawness, punches out of them. And
yet they are elegant. The colors are luxurious. Strength is your first reaction, delicacy is what
holds you. Painters, see these and weep.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jan/21/sean-scully-timothy-taylor-gallery
Translation- Sean Scully art is powerful and rare. His talents and intelligence surpass many artist of today. The
colors and canvas he uses show strength and rawness but they show softness at the same time.
b.
Scully’s abstract paintings restore, and in the process recapitulate and epitomize, on a new level of
self-consciousness, what Kandinsky called ‘the Great Abstraction’ and Mondrian termed
‘Abstract-Real painting’. Scully renews its radicalism and authenticity, liberating it from the
academic cliché it had become. He renews the sense of discovery that drove the pioneers of
abstraction, thus making aesthetic fundamentals once again fresh. Aesthetic mysticism, 3 and the
painting that has often been its vehicle.
Translation- Sean Scully paints are genuine. He is one of the great fore fathers of abstraction.
c.
He has also explored the possibilities of photography and this medium became an important
source of inspiration in his later work. We can see the mutual influence between his photographic
series "wall of light" and his paintings, in which fading walls and cracked surfaces show a
decadent beauty and the contradiction of nature and life.
Translation- In the wall of light series Scully shows natural beauty. Sean Scully has tried many
things and this medium has become a motivation for his work.
5.Site all sources for research and quotes. (Must have minimum of 5 for research and quotes.
http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/SCULLY/Default.cfm?MnuID=4&
http://wwar.com/masters/s/scully-sean.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jan/21/sean-scully-timothy-taylor-gallery
www.pbs.org/art21
http://www.der.org/films/sean-scully-at-work.html
5. A one sentence synopsis/summation of this artist, in your own words a statement that defines artist.
This artist is art work is very simple but it takes great talent and intelligence to produce the art that he produces.
Anthony Neal
Accounting
Sean Sully
Freshman
Part 2
( writing one page / mimimum 4 paragraphs. * may use additonal page if needed.) Analysis, evaluation and opinion
of the artist and his/her work.
Scully's paintings are often made up of a number of panels and are abstract. Scully paints in oils, sometimes
laying the paint on quite thickly to create textured surfaces. Today he is one of the most widely acclaimed and
exhibited painters in the world. After a brief initial period of hard-edge painting Scully abandoned the masking tape
while retaining his characteristic motif of the stripe. “For over a quarter of a century since he has developed and
refined his own instantly recognizable style of heroic geometric abstraction.” (John, 4)
His paintings typically involve tough architectural constructions of abutting walls and panels of densely
and lushly painted stripes. Though he frequently works on a monumental scale, even on a more modest scale his
paintings and works on paper exude a romantic gravity of an unmistakably urban rather than rural tenor. In recent
years he has augmented his trademark stripes by also deploying a mode of compositional patterning more
reminiscent of a checkerboard. He has stated that this style represents the way in which Ireland has moved towards a
more checkered society. He stated in 2006, "I remember growing up in Ireland and everything being checkered,
even the fields and the people."
His art looks very simple but they are still very beautiful. Sean Scully’s art goes against what people were
expecting during the time when he first started his art. “ I'm going against the current trend towards bizarreness,
oddness; as you just called it, the mysterious, which of course was around in the 1940s” Sean Sully . His art is based
on Minimalism which is term used to describe paintings and sculpture that thrive on simplicity in both content and
form, and seek to remove any sign of personal expressivity.
1. Include why you selected the artist - what drew you to the artist initially; Personal perspective/reflection from the
student. Discuss how your opinion of the artist changed - your perceptions of the artist and the artwork altered, was
enhanced or any other reactions you had as you learned more through your research. Include your one sentence
statement that defines the artist. How did you arrive at this?
I choose this artist because his works are look very simple but they are still very beautiful. Sean Scully’s art goes
against what people were expecting during the time when he first started his art. “I’m going against the current trend
towards bizarreness, oddness.” (Sean Sully). His art is based on Minimalism which is term used to describe
paintings and sculpture that thrive on simplicity in both content and form, and seek to remove any sign of personal
expressivity. My opinion about this artist changed tremendously when I first saw some of his works I thought they
were just simple but they were beautiful. They seem like the type of art I would put in my house, after learning the
complexity of his art I really appreciate his art.
2. Identify the quotes and paraphrase the content - what are the "art experts" saying. Do you agree? why or why not?
a.
The rustic surfaces of Scully's paintings look like sawn timber. Again and again, I had to check
they were painted on canvas. A primitive strength, a Viking rawness, punches out of them. And
yet they are elegant. The colors are luxurious. Strength is your first reaction, delicacy is what
holds you. Painters, see these and weep.
Translation- Sean Scully art is powerful and rare. His talents and intelligence surpass many artist of today. The
colors and canvas he uses show strength and rawness but they show softness at the same time.
I agree with this quote. When you first see Scully’s works you feel the power in it. The colors show supremacy
and might
1.
Identify the sources you used, the most useful and why, and any problems you may have had conducting
the research and how you resolved them.
www.brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell.../scully.htm
www.artnet.com/artist/15236/sean-scully.html
www.jca-online.com/scully.html
Anthony Neal
Sean Scully
Art App
MW 2:00-3:15
Outline of Presentation
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Sean Scully Facts
Born June 30, 1945 (65)
In Dublin, Ireland
Crydon College of Art, London
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Moved to United States in 1975
TT
1994
Can be seen at Glerie Boisseree, in Cologne, Germany
Scully's paintings are often made up of a number of panels and are abstract .
Scully paints in oils, sometimes laying the paint on quite thickly to create textured
surfaces
Today he is one of the most widely acclaimed and exhibited painters in the world.
Sean Scully
Oil on Campus
2008
Found in Timothy Taylor Gallery
Oil on Campus
2003
Sean Suclly
Why do you make art?
Sean Scully: “I think that I wanted to do something in my life that wasn't ordinary which wasn't normal. I couldn't bear to live my life as a normal person, put another
way: conventionally. So if I had a choice between living in suburbia and being dead, I
would rather be dead. That implies I am going to do something with my life that is
not ordinary. Then it is only a question of what that is. I could have gone into a
number of different things.”
Journal of Contemporary Art
Sean Scully
“My paintings are very much about power relationships, or they’re about things
having to survive within the competition, composition … the composition is a
competition for survival. It’s interesting that something small can stand up and be in a
composition, dynamically, and have to deal with something much bigger. There’s a
sort of equal relationship there.”
Sean Scully, interview with Ned Rifkin, in Ned Rifkin (ed.), Sean Scully: Twenty
years 1976–1995, London: Thames & Hudson, 1995, pp. 57–80 (p. 66).
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Falling Figure 2002
Sean Suclly
Quote from Jonathan Jones
“The power of Sean Scully's abstract art hits you like a blast of truth when you enter
the gallery. It is rare to encounter contemporary paintings that exert such authority
and convey such an exhilarating intelligence - but these are not contemporary. They
were made in the 1980s, at a time when the official taste proclaimed by the hottest art
world pundits was the direct opposite of today's. Then, painting was the thing. Many
of the paintings vaunted 25 years ago have failed to stand the test of time, but Scully's
make you wish to God there was a young painter like him today.”
Sean Scully
Wall of Light