A self-taught artist, William Scott’s practice imagines alternative realities that stem from a fundamental belief in the potential for positive human transformation. While deeply rooted in personal history, Scott’s paintings address questions of citizenship, community, and cultural memory. His portrait series of predominantly Black figures encompasses actors, musicians, politicians, and civil rights leaders, as well as self-portraits, family members, and women from the Baptist church he has attended since childhood.

William Scott was born in 1964 in San Francisco, CA, and has worked at Creative Growth for over 30 years.

Scott has mounted solo exhibitions at Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden; Studio Voltaire in London, UK; White Columns in New York, NY; Ortuzar Projects in New York, NY; and Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France.

His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery in London, UK; The Museum of Everything in London, UK; BAMPFA in Berkeley, CA; White Columns in New York, NY; Gavin Brown’s enterprise in New York, NY; Gallery Paule Anglim, in San Francisco, CA; and Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco, CA.

His work resides in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; LACMA in Los Angeles, CA; Oakland Museum of California in Oakland, CA; and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, CA.