Sean Scully is among the greatest abstract painters of our age. He is also one of the most outspoken. Since the late sixties, Scullys visual expressiveness has been matched by a verbal dynamism that is no less arresting than his art. Varying widely in form from brief reflections of compressed eloquence to essay-long meditations on artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Giorgio Morandi and Mark RothkoScullys writings are distinguished by a brutal lyricism and the effortlessness of their aphoristic turn of phrase. At once biographical and political, poignant and unflinching, the nearly 200 texts that comprise Inner: The Collected Writings and Selected Interviews of Sean Scully provide a unique perspective on one of the most engaging artistic imaginations of the past half century. Here, readers will discover the effusions of a mind tirelessly wrestling with the profoundest issues of art, cultural history, and what it means to be a creator in the contemporary world. The volume will be accompanied by key images illustrating Scullys words as well as facsimile reproductions of handwritten pages by the artist into which drawings have been integrated. (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-4164-4)
Sean Scully's insights into his art are simply stated yet brilliant. I have so many take aways from this book. Rather than fill a notebook with quotes and jottings I will have to purchase this book and keep it close. I love the multitude of themes and the way the artist addresses each topic with clarity. Sean Scully is an artist's artist. PS The art included is helpful and colorful, interesting. But read this for the words. Simply fantastic.
The beauty of the way Scully writes and thinks about anything, but of course art in particular, lies in the poetic. He is a type of spiritual mystic intellectual who can unpack ideas with a wisdom that is truly his own. While the writing, particularly the lectures can be repetitive, it works with his style and the way he paints, as the nuances are the keys to the value. I have to admit he can have a stubbornness, an intolerance and perhaps an elitism, which comes across like a pinch of salt, but I think that actually keeps him honest and human.
Scully is not just an innovative abstract painter, he is also a wonderfully insightful and often funny writer. Highly recommended. The book--with its varying typesets and organization, make this particularly lovely.