Dread Scott

Artist

Dread Scott is an interdisciplinary artist who for four decades has made work that encourages viewers to re-examine cohering ideals of American society. In 1989, the US Senate outlawed his artwork and President Bush declared it "disgraceful" because of its transgressive use of the American flag. Dread became part of a landmark Supreme Court case when he and others burned flags on the steps of the Capitol. He has presented a TED talk on this subject.

His work asks viewers to look soberly at America's past and our present. Writing about his art in the New York Times, Angelica Rogers wrote “...it was difficult to look away from the flag’s blocky, capitalized type. 'A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday.' It shouted the words so matter-of-factly that I felt myself physically flinch.” Dread works in a range of media from performance and photography to screen-printing
and video. He is an Academician in the National Academy of Design and has received an honorary doctorate from Pratt Institute.