William Evertson: SCOTUS 6

William Evertson's recently completed series of woodblock prints, SCOTUS 6, takes aim at the six conservative members of the United States Supreme Court: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The prints in SCOTUS 6 continue Evertson's interest in asserting political activism through visual media. Using collaged imagery, Evertson blends appropriated historical art with contemporary references, creating familiar yet irreverent scenes packed with biting socio-political commentary. 

Humorous yet contemplative, the prints in SCOTUS 6 raise serious questions about the integrity of the Court's decisions and its drastic reshaping of settled law. Recent cases decided by the Court's conservative majority have altered long-standing precedents including overturning Roe v. Wade, granting presidential immunity, restricting the government's ability to regulate, and loosening environmental laws. Evertson's prints waggishly critique the Court, sounding the alarm at a critical moment for the nation's future.  

Born in 1952, Evertson grew up with drills hiding under desks in preparation for nuclear war – a precursor to today's active shooter drills. While a twenty-something artist, America's landscape of cultural and political upheaval - including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, anti-war protests, Black Panthers, the Chicago Seven, and Kent State Massacre – helped foment Evertson's passion for activist art. 

The SCOTUS 6 series began with a stand-alone color woodblock print of Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni dancing amid the crumbling ruins of the Supreme Court Building. The Thomas' pose is copied from an illustration by Scottish artist John Faed depicting a raucous witches' Sabbath. Evertson wanted to emphasize the politization of the Court and the outside influences exacerbating the Justices' preexisting prejudices. Prints of Chief Justice John Roberts amid pinball machines representing cases in which the Court dismantled long standing rights and Samuel Alito chased by a witch borrowed from an Albrecht Dürer engraving followed soon after,  as the project morphed into a series of works underlining the hypocrisy of the conservative Judges. Evertson recently finished the series with images of Neil Gorsuch performing at a drag queen story hour, Brett Kavanaugh proudly holding a stein of beer in front of an empaneled jury of suffragettes, and Amy Coney Barrett as Botticelli's Aphrodite surrounded by red robed Handmaids.  

The exhibition will also include two prints by Evertson not part of the SCOTUS 6 series, but thematically related. Evertson's much lauded Capitol Offense 1814-2021 (included in the collections of several major institutions) blends imagery from the January 6th insurrection with an 1814 British wood engraving celebrating the burning of Washington DC and the Capitol building. Ketanji on the High Wire features the newest Justice and first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, delicately balancing on a tightrope over a swamp of waiting crocodiles. 

William Evertson: SCOTUS 6 is a provocative body of work in which each piece serves as a mirror reflecting the complexities of power and corruption in today's political arena. The exhibition is on view in the Childs Gallery print department October 4 through December 1, 2024. An opening reception with the artist will be held Saturday, October 5, 2-4pm.