Isaac Scott: SHLTR 2/1/25-3/8/25

For Immediate Release:  

SHLTR: Isaac Scott

February 1 - March 8, 2025

Opening Reception 5-9pm 02/01/2025

BIG RAMP is thrilled to announce SHLTR, a solo exhibition by Philadelphia-based artist Isaac Scott (curated by Maria Stracke). Exploring the notion of “shelter,” both noun and verb, as a responsive gesture, and an opportunity for reflection. Scott’s works take up the ruptures and failures of our current political and social contexts in order to reimagine our understanding of shelter and sheltering as a collective, transformative endeavor. 

Through self-portraiture, installation, text, and sculpture, the artist offers viewers a timely opportunity to reflect inward and outward, toward the past and into the future. Scott’s use of common building materials such as ceramic tiles, house paint, plywood, concrete, and rebar, imbues the mundane and familiar with fresh historical and cultural significance. By refashioning these materials into recognizable, yet visually compelling objects - a flower, a hut, a billboard message - Scott presents several variations on the role shelter might take in reconfiguring systemic change.

In Scott’s rendition, “shelter” symbolizes not merely a means of survival but a site for regeneration. Fissures, rough textures, and industrial materials remind us to embrace undoing and rebuilding. discarded elements with purposefully fragmented and restructured ceramic pieces suggests the possibility of reunification within moments of destruction. Through both material and process, SHLTR amplifies the ongoing challenge of connecting disparate experiences and perspectives to create more inclusive and radical spaces for action.

Isaac Scott is a Philadelphia-based ceramic artist, photographer, and educator, originally from Madison, WI. Scott works mainly with ceramics and photography, mediums which best allow him to interpret and elaborate upon current political and cultural events. Scott’s photographs of the 2020 Uprising in Philadelphia were featured in the June 22, 2020 issue of The New Yorker. He is represented by Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA, where Mouros, his solo exhibition, took place in 2023. Scott’s ceramic work has been exhibited around the country. Recent shows include the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY (2024), the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts’ (NCECA) convention in Richmond, VA (2024), Fleisher/Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia, PA (2023), and Watershed Center for Ceramic Art’s Barken Gallery in Edgecomb, ME (2022). In 2024, NCECA awarded Scott their prestigious Emerging Artist Fellowship.

Scott received a BA in Philosophy from The University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 2014 and an MFA in Ceramic Art from Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 2021.