Sean Scully: Mirror Images

When the Timothy Taylor Gallery opened in January 1997, its first exhibition was a solo show by Sean Scully. Seven Unions focused on his Union images, with a very carefully selected body of work including etchings, small and large paintings.

Taking this theme further, Mirror Images attempts to concentrate the attention on Sean's most recent work. One large painting ("Untitled" 1998, oil on canvas, 108 x 96 inches) dominates the exhibition. Two vertical panels bolted together, each thickly painted horizontal strips create an uneasy sense of union. Mirrored in scale and composition, but not in colour or sympathy. Scully's awareness of scale always sets the tone, but the shear beauty in his brush stroke and seduction of his palette lead one surprisingly quietly into an extreme state of uneasy pleasure.

This painting is one of four similar comprising works to be exhibited at the South London Gallery in June 1999. The Mirror theme is further explored through a small painting ("Untitled" 1998, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches) and works on paper "Seven Mirrors" 1997 (boxed portfolio of seven etchings with spitbite, sugarlift, and aquatint edition of 40 22.83 x 18.90 inches) and "Large Mirror III" 1998 (etching and aquatint, edition no 26/40, 29 3/4 x 22 1/4 inches).