Sean Scully's 'To Feel' at Thaddaeus Ropac: Dissolving Walls in Salzburg

The Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Salzburg is presenting 'To Feel', an exhibition of recent works by Sean Scully, on view at Villa Kast. The show centers on the artist's ongoing 'Wall of Light' series, which began in 1998 and explores the interplay of structure, light, and perception. Scully's paintings transform the motif of the wall from a barrier into a permeable threshold, where color and light penetrate the surface. Key works include 'Wall of Light Burnt Yellow' (2026), 'Wall of Light Pink Blue' (2025), and the large-scale 'La Grande Mer' (2024–26), which evokes a seascape. The exhibition also features two watercolors from 2026, 'Green Wall 4.11.26' and 'Wall Blue 4.13.26', which Scully describes as 'collaborating with sunlight'. The artist's inspiration for the series dates back to 1984, when he observed light on ancient architecture in the Yucatán, Mexico, leading to the watercolor 'Wall of light 4.84' (1984). Curator Antonia Hoerschelmann notes the 'physical, bodily' presence of the paintings, while art historian Michael Auping calls Scully 'a builder of images'. The exhibition emphasizes the relational nature of abstraction, where distance and proximity, opacity and transparency, create emotional resonance. Scully's practice is influenced by Spanish Baroque painting and French Post-Impressionism, particularly Édouard Vuillard. The show runs at Villa Kast in Salzburg, with the gallery's international presence in London, Paris, and New York.