Studio Voltaire reopens with a large exhibition of William Scott’s work, the first comprehensive assessment of the artist’s illustrious 30-year career.

This large-scale exhibition features over 80 paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the early 1990s to the present, including several pieces that have never been seen before. The show is supported by a collection of works that are on display in the public realm in the Studio Voltaire area.

Scott’s paintings, while profoundly anchored in personal history, address broader issues of citizenship, community, and cultural memory. His images of mostly black people include celebrities, musicians, politicians, and civil rights leaders ranging from Prince, Oprah Winfrey, and Maya Angelou to Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, as well as self-portraits, family members, neighbours, and women from the Baptist church where he grew up.

Scott’s work might be viewed as a type of activism, as it expresses his desire for social change in poetic terms. His works reinvent the social topography of his birthplace San Francisco, which resurfaces as the utopian ‘Praise Frisco’: a safe and shining neighbourhood. He frequently refers to himself as an architect. In response to the city’s growing gentrification, Scott’s alternate plans for urban development replace penthouses with community centres and revisit the Bayview housing projects where he grew up.

While Scott’s art is optimistic and sincere, it also deals with grief and concepts of renewal and rebirth. His long-running series of Skyline Friendly Organization ‘citizen ships’ take the guise of b–movie flying saucers, designed to transport persons who have died back to start a new life. His Another Life series of self–portraits examines the interconnections of faith, disability, and desire, frequently portraying a younger version of himself as athletic Los Angeles Lakers basketball hero ‘Billy the Kid’ or a happy young man attending prom. Painting is a transformational and documentary tool for Scott; it allows him to re-craft his personal narrative and even do amazing feats.

Scott has put together a special exhibition of large–scale public realm works to go along with this examination. The exhibit will animate Studio Voltaire’s neighbourhood and give unique chances for residents and tourists to engage Scott’s practice every day by collaborating with historic sites in the region, including Clapham Methodist Church.

The first comprehensive account of Scott’s work will be provided via a new monograph that is both comprehensive and well-illustrated. The monograph, which will be released later this year as a companion to the exhibition and will include new critical writing and a wide-ranging collection of Scott’s works to far, will include new critical commentary and a wide-ranging collection of Scott’s works to date.

This exhibition is a collaboration between Studio Voltaire and Creative Growth, a well-known Oakland, California nonprofit that supports artists with disabilities. Since 1992, Scott has been a member of the Creative Growth team.

This will be the first solo exhibition outside of the United States, and it will be held in Malmö Konsthall in Sweden in 2022.