Too elegant, too tactical, too perfect: such were the characteristics of Anish Kapoor’s hyperreflective sculptures of the unforgettable and exuberant exhibition held at Lisson Gallery in New York some four years ago. With immaculately polished surfaces, those optical devices, whether immense or human in scale, appeared as matchless catalysts for arresting phenomenological inquiries into the parameters of vision and the paradoxes of visual representation.
One positive outcome from the distraction of art fairs has been that more artists and their dealers are working together to make gallery solo exhibitions that juxtapose new work with early work. When done with sensitivity and a good eye, these presentations often become far greater than the sum of their parts, an achievement rarely achieved in stalls that bring to mind a county fair. And when an exhibition provides the bonus of rebuilding a historical connection to its actual location, as does this focused yet sweeping exhibition of ten works by Sean Scully (nine paintings and one sculpture installed outdoors), its use-value rises.