Dread Scott

Dread Scott is a visual artist who makes revolutionary art to propel history forward. In 1989, his art became the center of national controversy over its transgressive use of the American flag, while he was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Dread became part of a landmark Supreme Court case when he and others defied the a federal law outlawing his art by burning flags on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. He has presented at TED Talk on this.

His work has been included in exhibitions at MoMA PS1, the Walker Art Center, Jack Shainman Gallery, and Gallery MOMO in South Africa. It is in the collection of the Whitney Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. He was 2019 Open Society Foundations Soros Equality Fellow and has received a fellowship from United States Artists as well as a Creative Capital grant.

The New York Times selected his art as one of The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II. In 2019 he presented Slave Rebellion Reenactment, a project that reenacted the largest rebellion of enslaved people in US history. The project was featured in Vanity Fair and on CNN.

Photo Credit: Scot Wittman