Dread Scott - Works from the Lower East Side Printshop Archives New York Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | Phillips

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  • “I make revolutionary art to propel history forward.”
    —Dread Scott
    For his Obliterated Power prints, created as part of the Lower East Side Printshop’s invitational Publishing Residency Program, Scott selected photographs of three symbols of American power – the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Supreme Court – and  “obliterated” them with hand additions. For the first time in his impressively diverse practice, he puts painting and drawing front and center. His vigorous and gestural drawing was translated into layers of subtly colored screenprints, printed over the archival inkjet photo background. Although his primary focus throughout his career has been on the experience of African Americans in the United States, the symbols Scott explores here undoubtedly touch all Americans: architectural and visual projections of three branches of American government and the power that they hold. Scott felt that the Obliterated Power (Supreme Court) print was particularly germane to current events, given the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022. 

    “People brought linoleum from abandoned rolls or loosened bits from kitchen floors. We found rolls of paper here and there. A local ink company gave us cans of drying ink. We had a few old rollers. We learned to use sharp knives pointed away from our own hands and fingers and away from other people. We ranged in age from 5 to maybe 70 or more. We worked together and taught one another. Oh we were dangerous! We were PRESS!”
    —Eleanor Magid, Lower East Side Printshop Founder

    Founded in 1968, the Lower East Side Printshop began as an open access art and community center led by Eleanor Magid in the wake of New York City’s two month-long teachers’ strike. Magid, a local parent and printmaker who had studied under Universal Limited Art Editions master printer Robert Blackburn, transcended the typical art education curriculum by showing her daughter’s classmates and neighbors the ropes of printmaking through the creation of books, stories, and illustrations on a press in her home. Once teachers reached a resolution and schools restarted, Magid kept her studio open for collaborative printmaking. The homegrown operation quickly expanded beyond Magid’s space, moving to the East Village, where the operation soon became part of the alternative spaces movement of the 1970s, offering groundbreaking 24-hour studio use nestled in the buzzing artistic and cultural hub of East 4th Street.

     

    Lower East Side Printshop at its old location on East 4th Street, 1980s. Courtesy of Lower East Side Printshop.

    Expanding their space yet again, in 2005 the organization relocated from the East Village to a facility five times larger in Midtown Manhattan, and the DIY spirit that inspired the start of the Printshop continued to prosper. Over its nearly 70-year history, the Printshop has become a premier non-profit New York City printmaking studio and resource that supports contemporary artists of all career stages and artistic backgrounds. Through the Printshop’s residency programs – which have hosted the likes of Derrick Adams, Jeffrey Gibson, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dread Scott, Kara Walker, James Siena, and Hank Willis Thomas, among others – artist’s receive support through access to facilities, time, stipends, and technical assistance.

     

     

    In 2006, the Printshop was awarded Primary Organization status by the New York State Council on the Arts. This status is reserved for organizations that are, by the quality of their services and their stature, particularly vital to the cultural life of the state. Such designation is a testament to the important work of the Lower East Side Printshop, providing valuable resources that strengthen the artistic community of New York and promote the growth of the printmaking discipline.

     

    Lower East Side Printshop logo, with their ink roller chopmark.

     

    • Artist Biography

      Dread Scott

      American • 1965

      Dread Scott is known for his provocative and frequently controversial work that illuminates the realities of oppression and exclusion. His 1989 work What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag? attracted national attention and sparked massive protests about the sacredness and inviolability of the symbol of America. Never shying from controversy, Scott’s work has always tackled contentious topics with bravery and tact. 

      For the piece I Am Not a Man, 2009, the artist wandered the streets in Harlem, New York wearing a sign that read the title of the work. According to Scott, “throughout the walk, action in the performance evoked the humiliation that is visited on Black people and the negation that defines our existence.” The performance – which took place on September 9, 2009 – alludes to 1968 Memphis Sanitation workers strike by inverting its iconic sign ‘I Am a Man’. Further, by repudiating the assumption that the United States has entered a ‘post-racial’ era, “I Am Not a Man resides in the uncomfortable space between a race-free fantasy world and the lived experience of millions.”

      The focus of Scott’s work can perhaps best be comprehended by understanding his name. His professional name carries a myriad of interpretations: it evokes Dred Scott, the black slave who filed a lawsuit for his freedom during the 1850s while also referring to Rastafarian dreadlocks and bringing up the concept of dread. 

      View More Works

Property from the Lower East Side Printshop Archives

58

Obliterated Power (Supreme Court)

2022
Screenprint and archival inkjet print in colors, on Hahnemühle German Etching paper, the full sheet.
S. 26 1/2 x 39 7/8 in. (67.3 x 101.3 cm)
Signed, dated and annotated 'B.A.T.' in pencil (the good-to-print proof, the edition was 14 and 2 artist's proofs), published by the Lower East Side Printshop, Inc., New York (with their blindstamp), framed.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$1,500 - 2,500 

Sold for $1,778

Contact Specialist

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Works from the Lower East Side Printshop Archives

New York Auction 16 April 2024