Sean Scully

The piece posted above is Sean Scully's "Raval Rojo," painted in 2004. Scully is yet another artist who does blocks of color, which I typically do not like. These blocks of color I do not mind as much, however, because they are less precise and more organic. He lets the white of the canvas show through between the blocks, and his brush strokes are visible as well. I feel that this leads the eye around the canvas more effectively, holding my attention for longer.

When searching Scully, there were not only images of just his art, but also images from some of his gallery shows. When he hangs these pieces, he hangs them surrounded by copious amounts of white wall space, framing and isolating them. The white space makes the colors pop, especially when the pieces are backlit. I never think of pieces hanging without a frame or a mat, so it is interesting to think of the wall as framing a piece by itself. When matting a piece, you have the option of doing black mat or white mat, but gallery walls are normally just white, so not using a mat would generally eliminate the possibility of a colored border to the piece. Either way, looking at Scully's work made me give more consideration to the presentation of pieces, not just their making.