Scully, Sean

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1945, Sean Scully’s family moved to London soon afterwards. His formal art training includes study at the Croydon College of Art, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and at Harvard University. At a young age, Scully was exposed to American rhythm and blues music to the degree that he started a music club of his own and continues to enjoy popular music. He had an early interest in the paintings of Mark Rothko, but later developed an appreciation for Op Art. A skilled photographer, painter and printmaker, Scully received the Turner Prize in 1989 and was again nominated in 1993. His work is described by the Turner officials as having ‘demonstrated the power of abstract art to embrace personal experience and psychological depth.’ He became an American citizen in 1981. Today, Scully lives and works in New York, Barcelona and in Mooseurach, Germany.