Sean Scully

Lisson Gallery is pleased to present a new painting and watercolor by Sean Scully in East Hampton. Working to develop his own unique style over the past five decades, Scully is one of the most important painters of his generation, with his work held in esteemed museums worldwide, as well as significant private collections.

The painting on view, Mirror Red (2020) is a rare, intimately sized example of Scully’s iconic Mirror series. Scully often uses this format — a field of stripes that is divided into two equal parts that resemble, but do not in fact, mirror one another. The juxtaposition of the differing planes creates an energetic contrast and embodies principles at the core of Scully’s practice — the possibilities of abstraction and the enduring transformation of the line. In Mirror Red the five lines of blue and orange on the right side engage in a dialogue with the six deeply contrasting red and black lines on the left. The gesture is additionally amplified in the decision to paint on copper, whose surface is responsive to every move of the brush. Scully further investigates this compelling format in the watercolor, Landline Diptych 1.31.20 (2020). Using his signature horizontal Landline format, inspired by nature’s horizon line, Scully exercises his painterly freedom through the choice and juxtaposition of a range of colors, from light pinks to deep maroon, stacked alongside shades of tan and yellow.

Scully’s highly anticipated exhibition at Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden in Wuppertal, Germany opened in June and runs until 3 January 2021. The presentation features a selection of monumental sculpture installed outdoors in the over thirty acres of forest, alongside new paintings and additional sculpture in the indoor gallery space at the park’s summit. The works on view highlight the dynamism of Scully’s practice, executed in a variety of scale and utilizing a multitude of materials, including stone, steel, wood and Murano glass.