Stripe Hype

During his 20 years as an abstract painter, Sean Scully has seen the stripe through thick and thin: from the skinny lines of 70s geometry to the bold Working with Italian housepainter's brushes, Scully aims to paint all of life through a limited repertoire of signs. This month at the Modem Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Mary Boone Gallery in SoHo, there are exhibitions of his heroic— even romantic—works, which summon burning horizons and heraldic flags. In an age of mercurial style changes, the work shows Sean Scully digging in his heels and sticking to his guns: "1 recently listened to a piece for 12 cellos. If you can use 2 cellos, why not use 12? If you can use 4 stripes, why not use 40? You take something to the point where it will elicit a human response. "

ANNA JOHNSON