Scott Covert (born 1954)[1] is an American artist who, in the 1970s and 1980s, became a fixture of the East Village arts scene and cofounded Playhouse 57 with theater artist Andy Rees at the nightclub Club 57.[1]
Scott Covert | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (age 69–70) Edison, New Jersey, U.S.[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Rubbings, painting |
| Movement | East Village |
In 1979, Covert had his first solo show, curated by Keith Haring, at Club 57, he has since exhibited at galleries around the world.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
According to an interview with the BBC, Covert made his first grave rubbing The Dead Supreme, in 1985. He was influenced by founding Supremes member Florence Ballard, who died in 1976 aged only 32. "I was always a Supremes person," he explained.[9]
The Daily Telegraph wrote about Covert's work saying "Scott Covert has spent almost 40 years at the graves of celebrities, from actors to serial killers, the Shah of Iran in Cairo and Oscar Wilde in Père Lachaise. Using oil wax crayons, he makes detailed rubbings, then adorns them with colours and marks; sometimes a mass of inscriptions is built up into a grander, collaged form. He refers to the names, or the works, as “characters”. Unlike people, they cannot die."[10]
In a 2020 Hauser & Wirth related article, Covert said "I was in a fake post-punk band, Youth Against Death, along with Frank Holliday, Nancy Ferrara, Natalya Maystrenko and Kathy Dumas on camera—we did flyers and interviews, never picked up an instrument.[11]
Covert appeared in the 2021 documentary Make Me Famous.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Graham, Jay (February 4, 2022). "If There's a Rip in It: A Conversation with Scott Covert". The Paris Review.
- ^ Moorhead, Joanna (February 13, 2023). "Daylight rubbery: the cemetery stalker who turns celebrity gravestones into art". The Guardian.
- ^ Thomason, John (December 9, 2022). "Artist Immortalizes the Dead in Beautiful NSU Art Museum Show". Bocamag.com.
- ^ News Reporter (January 29, 2023). "Exhibition: New-Jersey-based experimental artist Scott Covert presents C'est la vie". South London Press.
- ^ "Scott Covert". The New Yorker.
- ^ "Scott Covert: I Had a Wonderful Life". NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale. 2022.
- ^ Clavarino, Elena (January 21, 2023). "Beyond the Grave". Air Mail.
- ^ Rigamonti di Cutó, Angeria (February 22, 2023). "Scott Covert – interview: 'For me, each brushstroke is a lifetime'". Studio International.
- ^ Jana, Rosalind (April 16, 2023). "Scott Covert: Why one artist has made it his life's mission to hunt down dead celebrities". BBC.
- ^ Revely-Calder, Cal (January 24, 2023). "Scott Covert: the artist who communes with the celebrity dead". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Covert, Scott (February 24, 2020). "Graveside with Scott Covert: Painter of the dead". Hauser & Wirth.
- ^ "Make Me Famous". New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival. 2022. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022.
External links
edit- Scott Covert at IMDb
- Scott Covert on Facebook
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