Description
SCOTT, DREAD. (b. 1965). African-American artist and social activist. Image Signed. (“Dread Scott”). 1p. Oblong Folio (18½” x 28½”). N.p., 2019. A limited edition (9/50) screen print of Revolt signed by Scott, depicting the scheduled reenactment (November 2019) of the German Coast Uprising of 1811, the largest slave rebellion in American history.
France’s inability to extinguish the slave rebellions on its colony of Saint-Domingue (the future Haiti), between 1791 and 1804, led to its quitting all territorial claims in the New World, including, most notably, the 1803 Louisiana Purchase that added 828,000 square miles to the United States. With the capitulation of Saint-Domingue came an influx of slaves and their French owners who found conditions in Louisiana’s Mississippi Delta ideal for growing sugar and cotton, the latter a profitable commodity since the cotton gin’s invention in 1793. However, these growers also brought with them the same notoriously brutal working conditions they had subjected their slaves to in Saint-Domingue.
New Orleans was the economic capital of the Louisiana Territory and the epicenter of the American slave trade, especially after the transatlantic slave trade was officially abolished in 1808. Thereafter, it was home to a bustling domestic slave trade as well as selling slaves illegally smuggled from the Caribbean. The influx of slaves to work on the large plantations of New Orleans meant that slaves vastly outnumbered their masters by an estimated ratio of five to one.
At the same time, the swamps and bayous around New Orleans became home to a number of maroons and escaped slaves who resisted re-enslavement. Slave insurrections occurred in the Louisiana Territory in 1791 with the Mina conspiracy and again in 1795 with the Pointe Coupée conspiracy which was fueled in part by the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man, a copy of which was found among the conspirators. The Pointe Coupée rebellion resulted in the hanging of 23 slaves whose decapitated heads were then displayed on pikes as a deterrent.
Nonetheless, on January 8, 1811, Quamana and Harry, slaves at the German Coast Andry plantation, and Charles Deslondes, a free man of color, led an uprising of an estimated 200-500 slaves. Gathering participants as they marched south along the Mississippi River toward New Orleans over the course of two days, they killed two white men leading white planters to flee and scramble to assemble a militia in order to suppress the revolt. On January 10, forces from New Orleans reached the rebel encampment and killed approximately 40 participants as others fled into the swamps. The next day the militia caught, tortured and killed Deslondes. In the following days, rebels continued to be hunted, jailed and interrogated, when not executed on the spot. At a series of three tribunals, planters tried and executed the captured insurgents, displaying almost 100 heads on pikes on the road from New Orleans’ Place d’Armes to the plantation district where the revolt originated. The territorial government compensated planters $300 for each executed slave and thereafter accepted the presence of American troops to help suppress future uprisings. The German Coast Rebellion is remembered as the largest slave revolt in American history.
To commemorate the importance of the German Coast Uprising, artist Dread Scott will stage in November 2019, a “Slave Rebellion Reenactment, a community-engaged performance that will bring to life a suppressed history of people with an audacious plan to organize, take up arms, and seize Orleans Territory. In this area of land stretching across most of present day Louisiana, the rebels of the 1811 uprising were determined to fight not just for their own emancipation, but to end slavery. It is a project that will animate a revolutionary vision of freedom that creates a space for viewers and participants to dream: What if …?” (Artist’s Statement).
“The artwork will be a startling sight; 500+ Black people, many on horses, armed with machetes and muskets, flags flying, some in militia uniforms, others in 19th century French colonial garments, singing in Creole to African drumming. Over two days and 26 miles, this army of the enslaved will march the original route of the 1811 rebellion along the east bank of the Mississippi River. Formerly the site of decadent plantations, the route now passes heavy industry, gated communities, small businesses, low-income housing, big box-style stores, and other characteristics of everyday life. As the rebellion proceeds through this richly layered space, the historical confluences between past and present will create an ever-shifting dialogue that encourages viewers to re-think long-held assumptions. The ending of [Slave Rebellion Reenactment] will intentionally interrupt the timeline of history on which it’s based to culminate in a celebration featuring a public commemoration of the enslaved rebels who sacrificed their lives and a community celebration of Black cultural expressions of freedom through music and performance.”
Dread Scott (born Scott Tyler) is an American artist who explores the African American experience in contemporary culture. His first major work, What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag (1989), was the subject of significant controversy regarding the desecration of the American flag. Among his subsequent works, which explore “issues of ideology and power,” is his A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday, which comments on the deaths of unarmed African Americans at the hands of police, (“Dread Scott Reenacts a Slave Revolt to Reconsider Freedom,” Hyperallergic, Rodney). His highly-regarded work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and his performance pieces include Dread Scott: Decision and Money to Burn.
All proceeds from the sale of this limited edition serigraph will be evenly split between A Blade of Grass (ABOG) and Slave Rebellion Reenactment. A Blade of Grass is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that supports socially engaged artists nationwide, vibrant public programs, and the expansion of audiences for art.
Scott began Slave Rebellion Reenactment when he was a 2015 A Blade of Grass Fellow for Socially Engaged Art. A Blade of Grass is delighted to support Slave Rebellion Reenactments in tandem with the projects co-presenters Antenna and Prospect New Orleans.
Our boldly colored silk screen print depicts the projected visual juxtaposition of reenactors dressed in 19th-century costumes against the modern industrial backdrop of the Mississippi River region. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil on the verso by the artist. In mint condition.
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