Good Grief
What we think, we become.—Buddha
Mindy Solomon is pleased to introduce the work of Sean McGaughey for his innaugaral exhibition in Miami. Inspired by repetition, jazz music and saturated color, McGaughey creates deeply layered, loosely articulated forms and gestures.
Sean McGaughey’s immersive large scale abstract paintings combine inspiration and influences from Abstract Expressionism, music and his personal practice as a Nichiren Buddhist to arrive at a place of universality. The colors and energy of marks within Sean’s paintings weave in and out of each other shifting and changing from what might have started with the simple representational shapes of facial features to landscape, into flowers are a result of the first time he experienced chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Devotion to The Mystic Law of The Lotus Sutra), the Nichiren Buddhist chant with a group of people. The different colors, much like the different pitches, energy and sounds of music or voices chanting begin to transcend the singular identity and merge with the universal.
In “Walking into the Sun with Dreams” McGaughey crafts a glorious scene of bright blue against blazing red. Moments of vibrant orange intercept the rich expanse almost as if dawn has begun. Inspired by the changing color of the sky due to long waits in Los Angeles traffic, McGaughey utilizes inspiration in whatever moment of time is afforded him. The “Sun Raining Flowers 1” with it’s moody purple palette, is a perfect metaphor for the change of light and color that transforms the sky during rainfall. Each work in the exhibition feels like an excerpt from a musical composition- leading the viewer from one metaphysical moment to the next. Wordless, timeless and powerful.
We look forward to sharing those moments of contemplation with you.
About Sean McGaughey
Sean P. McGaughey is a painter who lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Sean McGaughey’s immersive large scale abstract paintings combine inspiration and influences from Abstract Expressionism, music and his personal practice as a Nichiren Buddhist to arrive at a place of universality.
The colors and energy of marks within Sean’s paintings weave in and out of each other shifting and changing from what might have started with the simple representational shapes of facial features to landscape, into flowers are a result of the first time he experienced chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Devotion to The Mystic Law of The Lotus Sutra), the Nichiren Buddhist chant with a group of people. The different colors, much like the different pitches, energy and sounds of music or voices chanting begin to transcend the singular identity and merge with the universal.
