Sean Scully – Walls of Aran

The Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland, hold a unique place in the Irish imagination. For centuries artists and writers have travelled there to record the stark beauty of the landscape or to find inspiration in the way of life. Among them is Irish-born painter Sean Scully, who has made regular visits to the islands over a number of years.

One of today’s most esteemed abstract artists, whose signature style of lines or bands of colour is instantly recognizable, Scully is also an accomplished photographer, his eye drawn to architectural shapes that have affinities with his painted work. For him the hundreds of ancient dry-stone walls that criss-cross Aran are much more than functional barriers on the land. They are anonymous sculptures that reflect the elemental nature of life on this windswept and rocky terrain.

This book brings together for the first time his sensitive and poetic images of the walls of Aran, revealing the unexpected yet monumental beauty of these centuries-old structures that meander across the austere and exposed landscape.

Like Scully, award-winning Irish writer Colm Tóibín has visited Aran many times over several decades. His evocative text accompanying Scully’s photographs conveys the islands’ mystery and beauty, and considers some of the literary precursors who have made Aran the subject of their work. An account by Scully of his own experience of the islands completes this exquisite book.