Sheldon Scott: Altar of Repose: I’m gonna lay down…
June 18 to August 31, 2022
Connersmith.
1013 O St NW, Washington
DC 20001
United States
Sheldon Scott Studios is pleased to present Altar of Repose: I’m gonna lay down…, a solo exhibition of performance and multimedia work by Sheldon Scott, on view at ConnerSmith Gallery, from June 18 to August 31, 2022. Scott’s practice intersects race, sexuality and economics to impugn mythologies of Black supernaturality. Based in Washington D.C., Scott hails from the Gullah-Geechee Lowcountry of South Carolina, a history that informs his artistic perspectives across mediums. Using altered hammocks as physical representations of leisure, the work will posit questions on how rest becomes resistance in a society that commodifies intellectual and physical labor, especially from Black individuals. Timed to the weekend of Juneteenth, Scott will deliver a performance on the opening day of the exhibition from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an artist talk taking place on Sunday, June 19 at 5 p.m.
Photo by Jatai Lindsey
Courtesy of the artist
In this performance, Scott will lay in the handmade hammocks for a full work day, countering the performance of labor that has encompassed his experience as a Black artist. Bundles of the hammocks will be placed on a pole as a centerpiece of the exhibition, and each hammock will be made black through the processes of tarring, painting, sequining and charring, with some containing elements such as nails and glass throughout. These adornments will speak to industries where extraordinary labor practices live undergirded by hyper-capitalism, made evident in fields once established as areas of leisure, such as sports, entertainment and the arts.
Photo by Jatai Lindsey
Courtesy of the artist
The show will also include a room-sized installation inspired by the Biblical story of Jacob’s Ladder. These sources reference the thought of a “leisurely stroll to heaven for Black folk.” As a whole, Scott’s new body of work aims to catalyze ideation on how Black people have or have not been able to participate in rest, and more pointedly, how Black labor has been exploited for the rest of other peoples.
Photo by Jatai Lindsey
Courtesy of the artist
Scott’s beloved aunt, Queenie “Tiney” Knox Murray, was one of countless Black and brown women who worked as domestic housekeepers in the Deep South. For nearly 30 years, Tiney labored so that others could enjoy their leisure while vacationing at Myrtle Beach. On May 13th, 2022, Tiney became an ancestor and it is Sheldon’s honor to dedicate this exhibition and related multimedia body of work to her legacy.
https://www.instagram.com/sheldonascott/
©2022 Sheldon Scott, Connersmith.
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