Sean Scully
Stories
27.6. — 2.11.2025

Sean Scully
Stories

27.6. — 2.11.2025

Sean Scully is considered one of the most important abstract artists of our time. His works are characterised by deep emotions as well as poetic and philosophical reflections on the human condition, experiences of loss and longing. On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, the Bucerius Kunst Forum is dedicating a comprehensive retrospective to the artist. The exhibition shows about 60 works from over six decades of his career. In addition to Scully's large-format paintings, works on paper, photographs and sculptures will be presented.

Combined with stories and anecdotes about the works, the exhibition shows that despite its non-representational character, Scully's art is not unapproachable. Instead, it tells stories and awakens emotions and memories in the viewer. Visitors to the exhibition thus encounter childhood memories, the artist's experiences of key political events and his impressions of travelling. The combination of art and text in the exhibition opens up the possibility of experiencing non-representational painting, which is often perceived as difficult to access, through individual stories and thus finding a way in.

Scully's iconic large-scale paintings are presented alongside newly discovered works and experiments by the artist dating back to the 1960s. His best-known works are these large-format paintings on which he applies several layers of oil paint, making the texture of the colour clearly visible. In addition to the heavy application of colour and coarse brushstrokes, the paintings are particularly striking due to their dimensions and chequered patterns. Visitors to the exhibition can expect a journey through the decades that illustrates how an artist's career changes as a result of personal strokes of fate, political developments and artistic trends. 

Pilot project of the programme "Verborgene Potenziale – Gemeinschaftliche Entwicklung der Nutzungsvielfalt für eine lebendige und resiliente Hamburger Innenstadt" of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, funded by the programme "Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren“ of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building.

The exhibition is sponsored by