In Dread Scott’s Goddam at Cristin Tierney Gallery in Manhattan, four of Simone’s most recognizable protest songs, including “Mississippi Goddamn,” materialize into works of visual art. The three others, also matched with namesake canvases, are “Four Women” (1966), “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” (1967), and “Pirate Jenny” (1964).
For the first piece, Scott scrawls his own “Goddams” next to floating maps of Florida, Texas, Minnesota, and Georgia—states with high rates of hate crimes against Black Americans and LGBTQ+ people. An image of the US Capitol hovers at the center of the canvas against a silver background.
