b.1965, Chicago, USA

Dread Scott is an American artist whose work explores themes of racial injustice, revolution, and the legacy of oppression in the United States. His practice draws from the history of protest and Black radical tradition, often addressing systemic racism, state violence, and the inherent failures of American democracy.

Scott’s seminal installation What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag? (1988) invited viewers to walk across an American flag and respond to the question posed by the artwork’s title.  The piece quickly became a lightning rod for public debate, drawing strong reactions, particularly from conservative circles. In 2019, Scott’s Slave Rebellion Reenactment brought to life the largest rebellion of enslaved people in U.S. history, the 1811 German Coast Uprising, through a community-engaged reenactment. By honouring the courage and struggle of those who fought for freedom, the project generated a new image of self-liberated Black people, excavating a hidden history of resistance and manumission to confront the enduring legacy of enslavement.

Dread Scott’s work has been included in exhibitions at MoMA PS1, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Brooklyn Museum; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; San Francisco; Hamburger Kunsthalle; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Scott received the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021. In 2019, he was the Open Society Foundation’s Soros Equality Fellow and has received the United States Artists Fellowship 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 2020.