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he Avett Brothers released their latest album, Closer Than
Together, on October 4. Seth Avett writes, “We didn’t
make a record that was meant to comment on the sociopolitical
landscape that we live. We did, however, make an album that
is obviously informed by what is happening now on a grander
scale all around us...because we are a part of it and it is a part of
us.” The brothers have been sharing their music, their thoughts
and their faith with audiences for nearly two decades.
Scott Avett graduated from East Carolina University in 1999,
and he has been printmaking and painting ever since—while
writing music and touring with Seth and their band. Scott had
kept his paintings pretty much to himself until a week after
the release of Closer Than Together when an exhibition, Scott
Avett: INVISIBLE, opened at the North Carolina Museumof Art in Raleigh. It continues through February 2, 2020. It
features his large-scale portraits of himself and his family as
well as prints and work relating to the band.
Linda Dougherty, the museum’s chief curator and curator
of contemporary art, comments, “We’re always looking for
new North Carolina artists who are under the radar. I did a
studio visit with Scott in 2015. We just talked generally and
the idea of an exhibition slowly evolved. He’s a perfect fi t.
The Avett Brothers performed here early in their career and
Scott developed a connection to the collection when he was in
school. Sentimental, nostalgic and deeply real—like his song
lyrics—his paintings resonate with human emotion and forge
powerful and personal connections between his work and the
viewer/listener.1
Fatherhood (detail),
2013, oil on canvas,
106 x 65". Courtesy the
artist, © 2019 Scott
Avett. Photograph by
Lydia Bittner-Baird.2
Motherhood (detail),
2012, oil on canvas,
106 x 65". Courtesy the
artist, © 2019 Scott
Avett. Photograph by
Lydia Bittner-Baird.2