MONOTYPES FROM THE GARNER TULLIS WORKSHOP - April 3-May 6, 1987 - Introduction

Sep 29, 2026

Monotypes from the Garner Tullis Workshop presents an introduction to Sean Scully’s printmaking and painting practice, centered on the stripe as both subject and expressive means. It explains how sustained looking reveals layered experience and how abstraction can become figurative in a direct, unsentimental way. The text links Scully’s physical surfaces and thick paint to disciplined movement in karate, and describes how the workshop’s facilities and Tullis’s press tools enable rich color, dynamic compositions, and spontaneous exploration through monotype processes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

Stripe, abstraction, and emotional specificity

Karate and physical directness

Monotype process and workshop support

SEAN SCULLY SEAN SCULLY MONOTYPES FROM THE GARNER TULLIS WORKSHOP APRIL3-MAY 6,1987 —2 Sean Scully and Garner Tullis in the Santa Barbara studio. # INTRODUCTION An artist once told me about his first encounterwith Scully's large multi-dimensional paintings.It was onlyafter looking at the paintings for a very long time that herealized he was looking at stripes!I found his experienceextraordinary to believe at first telling and then laterunderstood what had occurred.By taking on the issue ofsubject(the stripe)in abstract painting and by working sothat the paint surface carries equal importance,form andmeans become one.Scully succeeded in creating for thisartist what he describes as a"compressed experience"inwhich paint and image are reconciled. Scully approaches painting in much the same way asRothko did.Rothko used the rectangle as a non-objec-tive form through which he could be,in Scully's words,"emotionally specific,"using color and compositionalrelationships to describe his feelings.Scully takes onthese and other concerns.In conversation he made thepoint that his work is about "trying to make abstractionfigurative."The stripe becomes the subject and replacesthe human figure.It is repeatedly addressed and paintedin the same traditional manner as the nude,the keydifference being that the stripe is non-representationaland unsentimental.The stripe has become the means bywhich Scully feels he can honestly and directly expresshimself without ambiguity. In Jack Flam's book Matisse on Art Matisse com-ments:"The simplest means are those which best enablean artist to express himself.His means of expressionmust derive almost of necessity from his temperament."Scully's work is an example of the realization of thisstatement.In many ways,a long involvement with karateaccounts for the "temperament"that informs his work.His interest in karate,in fact,has little to do with self-defense;it is another form of expression,in this casephysical expression through controlled movement.Hispaintings,like karate,are physical and direct.Surfaces ofsubstance are achieved by layering thick paint,eachbrushstroke executed with immediate authority. Scully's approach to printmaking is as direct andself-fulfilling as his approach to painting.He has instinc-tively overcome inherent limitations of the medium thatoften produce flatness of image and color.Because heworked in a printshop as a young man setting type andrunning the presses,his understanding of printing pro- cesses is quite clear.He,therefore,has a technical back-ground that gives him the skills to improvise with adifferent way of working to achieve results that seemnaturally evolved and spontaneous.The monotypesprinted at the Garner Tullis Workshop are evidence ofthe great possibilities that exist in a sympathetic andknowledgeable relationship to the medium.Flatness isnot what comes to mind looking at these singular prints.The surfaces are rich,the colors saturated,the composi-tions dynamically on edge. Of course,these printmaking possibilities do notexist solely because of the artist's contribution but alsoquite clearly due to the facility at the Garner Tullis studio.Northeasterly facing skylights wash the studio with lightthroughout the day.Tullis takes great pride in the pressesand tools the studio has to offer.They range from a one-of-a-kind offset lithography proof press to state of theart saws and plate engravers.The artist is encouraged touse any material as aplate and to modify this plate usingarange of applications.For his plates Scully used planks ofwood cut into differing formats.Multiple printings usingthe same pieces of wood began to create a history ofpaint.As with his paintings,colors were changed onsome of the prints again building a surface.The planks ofwood become an interchangeable matrix that allowedScully to experiment in directions he may or may notcommit to canvas.An idea is uniquely explored anddeveloped in each print rather than repeated in a seriesof p

FAQs

Why does the stripe matter in Scully’s work?

The stripe becomes the subject and replaces the human figure, letting Scully express himself honestly and directly without ambiguity.

How does the introduction connect Scully’s painting approach to karate?

It says both are physical and direct, with surfaces built through layered thick paint and executed brushstrokes that carry immediate authority, like controlled movement.

What role does the Garner Tullis studio play in the monotypes?

The studio’s sympathetic, knowledgeable setup—presses, tools, and plate experimentation—supports rich surfaces, saturated colors, and dynamically edged compositions beyond the artist’s contribution alone.

Sep 29, 2026

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