About
Dread Scott
Dread
Scott is a multidisciplinary artist whose work addresses questions
that are part of the public discourse. He approaches these questions
from the standpoint of the oppressed and the "have-nots"
and they are often the subject of the work as well. Dread exposes
the misery that this society causes for so many people. Because
of this, his art has often become part of this public debate.
He is always striving to make art in which people see themselves
and their world and feel more empowered to change it. Therefore
he seeks to make his work accessible both within the "artworld"
and to people outside the traditional art audience. Roberta Smith,
art critic for the New York Times, has described a recent work
as "quite resonant."
He
first received national attention when he was a student at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). In 1989, his installation
for audience participation, What is the Proper Way to Display
a U.S. Flag?, became the center of controversy over its use
of the American flag. George H. W. Bush publicly denounced him
because of this art and Congress passed legislation that outlawed
it. Dread considers each of these actions a tremendous honor.
As part of the popular effort to oppose moves to make patriotism
compulsory, he, along with three others, burned flags on the steps
of the U.S. Capitol. This resulted in a Supreme Court case, and
he was part of organizing and coordinating the nationwide legal
and political effort to win this landmark case.
In
1992, he was a fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent
Studio Program in New York. In 1995, he was awarded a Mid Atlantic
/ National Endowment for the Arts Regional Fellowship in Photography.
In 2000 he participated in the Institute on the Arts and Civic
Dialog directed By Anna Deavere Smith at Harvard University. That
year he also worked on a Special Edition Fellowship at the Lower
East Side Printshop. And in 2001 he received a New York Foundation
for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture and a Creative Capital Grant.
His
work has been shown in many galleries and museums around the country
and internationally. He has also produced outdoor public sculptures
as well as several posters which have been pasted on walls around
the country. He has appeared on numerous local and national TV
and radio shows including Oprah, The Today Show, and CBS This
Morning speaking about his work and the controversy surrounding
it. He has been written about in The New York Times, Art In America,
ArtNews, The Village Voice, Time, People, The London Guardian
and several other newspapers, magazines and books. He works in
a variety of media including photography, installation, sculpture,
and screenprinting. Recently, as an extension of his art, he helped
produce video public service announcements against police brutality
which aired on MTV and BET.
About
Words on Fire
www.wordsonfireboston.com
This
Spring, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Nazi Book
Burnings in Berlin, the New Center for Arts and Culture launches
its inaugural program, Words on Fire, a major eight-week festival
that will take place from March 13 through May 11, 2003. Words
on Fire is filled with superb and abundant offerings, staged at
a variety of locations, including art exhibits, films, lectures
and conversations, special events, and community gatherings and
celebrations.
Words
on Fire explores crucial themes evoked by the book burnings of
the 1930's, and why those themes matter now more than ever before.
Moreover, this festival celebrates the fire that creates the words
and reclaims all voices that cannot be silenced.
The
mission of the New Center for Arts and Culture is visionary: to
build community by exploring Jewish culture and the interconnectedness
of all cultures, creating a dynamic setting that inspires artistic
excellence, welcomes diversity, nurtures creativity and encourages
participation in the arts and humanities.
|