“give me jesus and give me a beer. give me one reason i am this man. a self exploding mess. painting ideas of life, struggle and stress”…. ending with “it’s going to be a long fucking night”
-from the painting ‘give me jesus’.
Observational, confessional, sensitive renderings painted and scratched onto reclaimed wood in the tradition of folk art. Cousins to Grimm, to the fables and allegories reaching back in time. Scott’s paintings are inhabited by animal and man, mostly set among hills, gardens, under the light of the howling moon. Titles in pencil on the surface of the paintings, point the way - ‘we’ll be ok’, ‘it’s all we need’. And in some .. a story.. like ‘give me jesus’ - all signed - ‘heart’ Scott.
Scott is a self taught artist, born in 1982. a new generation of ‘folk’, millennial folk, connected to the generations of mountain folks of the Catskills who came before.
What is self taught or folk these days? We are all interconnected and self aware of the world around us. To me, it is a signature, a mark, a note, by an artist that conveys something so heartfelt and honest. His work comes from a place of need. A need to express something inside. An urge, a compulsion, a joy, a pain, but undeniably authentic voice of a young, mid career artist who works shit out through stories of beasts that inhabit his mind. And in all of that we can feel the tenderness and sensitivity of all it means to be connected, and to be human.
Scott lives with his wife and 2 kids and has converted the detached garage into his workshop and studio.
His work has been exhibited across the country and globe. from the Catskills to Rome, California to Miami. I am grateful for the introduction to Scott’s work by Rich & Sally Cali, who ran Monument, an art space in Kingston, NY. Their gallery, recently closed. It was a gem set among the Catskills.