The exhibition of Sean Scully in LA PEDRERA It is presented as one of the most significant samples of its trajectory, consolidating its position as one of the great referents of contemporary abstraction. The retrospective, curated by Javier Molins and performed … With the close collaboration of the artist, it includes more than sixty works that cover six decades of production that speak for themselves, from their figurative beginning to its characteristics compositions of stripes and color blocks that have redefined abstract painting with an unprecedented emotional load.
All the focus, from the title, falls on Are scully, Born in Dublin in 1945, and that has developed a work that moves between the European tradition and American modernity. Its evolution starts from minimalism of the seventies, with a restricted palette and a precise geometric structure, until reaching a more expressive language, where the strips and color blocks vibrate with a warmth and emotional depth that distinguishes it. His work seeks to “return emotion to abstract painting,” He has said, moving away from minimalist coldness to create pieces that dialogue with light, texture and memory.
In La Pedrera, Scully returns to A city where he lived and worked for more than fourteen years. This exhibition, the most complete artist in Barcelona since 2007, allows a tour of its artistic evolution and highlights its relationship with the Catalan capital. Works such as ‘Barcelona Band of Light’ and ‘Barcelona Dark Wall’ (both of 2004), reflect the footprint of their stay in the city.
In addition, for the first time in Barcelona, their sculptures are exhibited, including the monumental ’55’ (2025), A piece of almost seven meters high Created specifically for the sample and located in the courtyard of the Paseo de Gracia. These sculptures, made of materials such as stone, aluminum and zinc, transfer their characteristic horizontal and vertical stripes to three -dimensionality.
More nuances and complexities
One of the fundamental aspects of Scully’s work is his dialogue with art history. Influenced by Matisse, Mondrian and Rothko, It has achieved deeply humanized abstraction, where color and structure transmit an intense spiritual burden. In this exhibition, this dialogue expands to Gaudí’s architectural space. La Pedrera, with its organicity and formal innovation, establishes a fascinating relationship with Scully, which also seeks to challenge the norms and explore new limits in visual expression.
As Javier Molins, commissioner of the sample, comments, the work of Scully Guarda A parallelism with Bach’s music, In particular with ‘Goldberg Variations’, where repetition with variations generates an enveloping and dynamic experience. Scully’s painting shares this structure: her stripes, at first sight repetitive, are never exactly the same, creating a visual cadence that invites a prolonged and deep contemplation. Scully himself has pointed out that “each color strip contains multiple gradations inside and, over time, the colors he uses have more and more nuances and complexity.”
In addition, Scully has expressed interest in his work to recover the spiritual dimension of abstract painting, stating that his art seeks to “capture something that reflects the dimensionality of the human spirit within the grid of our world.” This exploration of the emotional and the transcendental It is reflected in works such as ‘Africa’ (1989), where, in the words of the Irish, “this painting presents a strange cold and warm light, dark and purple. It is the light of heaven and the sand of the desert ».
From top to bottom, detail of the sample assembly in La Pedrera; the paint ‘Barcelona Band of Light’; and ‘Figure in a Room’ (1967), of its figurative origins
Beyond his artistic and literary references, Scully has been inspired by his own biography. His ‘Landline’ series evokes the horizon that separates the sea from heaven, a recurring image in his memory since he emigrated from Ireland to the United States. In his works, the earth, the sea and the sky establish a deep connection. This relationship with the landscape becomes a metaphor of its own personal and artistic journey. It also highlight works such as ‘Empty Heart’ (1987), inspired by the death of her son Paul, in which the artist transmits a feeling of loss and emptiness by vertical stripes in black and white.
Another of the essential characteristics of his work is the exploration of color as a vehicle for emotion. In this sense, Scully has been considered A continuator of Matisse’s tradition, stating that “color is the soul of painting.” His chromatic combinations, apparently simple, enclose a richness of nuances that provide their compositions with great depth. The ‘Wall of Light’ series, inspired by the dry stone walls of its native Ireland and on its trip to Mexico, plays with color blocks that remember ancestral architectural structures.
Beyond the exhibition in La Pedrera, the exhibition expands through the city through activities organized in collaboration with institutions such as the Great Teatre del Liceu and the Palau de la Música. It also highlights the documentary led by David Trueb Know the effort after the work itself.
Sean Scully
La Pedrera Catalunya Foundation. Barcelona. Paseo de Gracia, 92. Commissioner: Javier Molins. Until July 6. Four stars.
In addition, concerts and interventions have been programmed that link Scully’s work with music, reinforcing her idea of rhythm and cadence. With this initiative, Scully’s work is manifested in all her splendor, reminding us that abstraction, far from being a cold and analytical exercise, can be a powerful means to explore the human condition from emotion.
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