ALHAMBRA / Sean Scully, an Irish-born American painter and printmaker, is exhibiting canvases, watercolors and photographs at the Palace of Charles V, in Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and Generalife. The exhibition will run until June 10, 2012.
Image above: Sean Scully / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

Sean Scully / Alhambra, 2011, Suite of 12 C-Prints, 50.8 x 58.8 cm each. The Collection of Sean Scully. Barcelona, Spain / Courtesy of the Artist

Sean Scully’s knowledge of Arabic art culture dates back his days as a Fine Art student in Newcastle. His first visit to Morocco in 1969 was a hugely significant trip for his work as a painter. Scully returned to Morocco for a second visit in 1992, travelling with the BBC to film the 40-minute documentary Artist’s Journey: Sean Scully on Henri Matisse, while at the same time teaching at the University of Harvard. By then, much of his work already bore names referring to the Arab world, from Morocco (1969) to Araby and Fes (1981), Matamata (1991), Taza and The Moroccan (1992) or Tetuan (1991-1993). In 1996 he went back twice, resulting in the photos making up the portfolio Atlas Walls in 1998, and in particular his painting Tin Mal (1997).

Since his first trip to the Arab world, Scully has used to build up his huge and excellent body of work based on geometry, rhythm and light. His work follows the two patterns of art found in the Alhambra: It is aniconic (it contains no figurative representation) and it presents unity in multiplicity. In other words, he recognizes his artistic process from the past forty years in those repeated geometrical shapes; he recognizes his language as the road between the material world (pictoric) and the spiritual worlds (his visual thought), beyond abstract expressionism and minimalist art.

Sean Scully / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

Sean Scully / Photo from the exhibition / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

Scully is not looking for ornamentation. He is looking for how to capture the sensation of light, space and movement in geometric rhythm. This is the reason why Scully’s rectangular structures are not decorative. What we find is an explicit analysis of shape and feeling.

The exhibition is divided into three parts:

  • - seven large paintings (oil on canvas and aluminium) from the series 'Wall of Light', completed between 2005 and 2011,
  • - a set of 40 watercolors providing a retrospective viewpoint,acting as small patios leading to Scully’s body of work,
  • - and three series of photographs: Aran (set of 24 images), Santo Domingo for Nene, from 1999 (set of 12 images) and Alhambra, from 2011 (set of 12 images), taken solely within the palace, on show for the public here for the first time.

image From the exhibition / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

From the exhibition / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

Sean Scully / Put This Back, 2011 / Oil on canvas, 280 x 224 cm. The Collection of Sean Scully. Mooseurach, Germany / Courtesy of the Artist

Sean Scully / Photo from the exhibition / Courtesy of the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife

Sean Scully / Watercolor and graphite on paper, 25.4 x 35.6 cm. Collection of Sean Scully. Barcelona, Spain / Courtesy of the Artist

Sean Scully / Wall of Light Mediterranean, 2011 / Courtesy of the Artist

Sean Scully / Watercolor on paper, 30.5 x 22.9 cm. Collection of Sean Scully. Barcelona, Spain / Courtesy of the Artist

This exhibition at the Alhambra is sure to make spectators feel the light and architecture of this mysterious and elegant combination from a new perspective.

More information about the EXHIBITION.


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