JUNE 3 - AUGUST 1, 2026

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Boy, a solo exhibition of new paintings and screen prints by artist Scott Avett. This will be Avett’s third solo exhibition with SOCO Gallery.

The works presented in Boy explore questions of humility, canonization, wit, and success. Smaller works on panel accompany the larger, life-size works, depicting intimate, gentle everyday moments: a boy eating corn on the cob on a hot summer day, a child and parent in a gentle embrace. The common thread of boyhood is evident throughout the exhibition, while quietly circling what it takes to become a man.

In Boy, Avett turns inward, using humor and tenderness to open up a more introspective space. The works return to the figure of the boy, not just as a subject, but as a point of view holding curiosity and vulnerability in equal measure. There is a consistent thread of sonhood throughout the exhibition as well, part of Avett’s awareness as father to sons and a son himself. In this way, the work also quietly gestures toward the idea of the “son of man,” folding Avett’s own reflections on faith and identity into a broader human frame, where boyhood, sonhood, and manhood are never fully separate, but always in conversation.

In Jesus in a Pinto, Avett depicts Jesus, widely known as the “son of man,” driving a lowly Ford Pinto down a scenic highway. Avett utilizes multiple canvases, as well as a life-size scale, to allow the viewer to intimately experience the humanity of the figure. The work invites inquiry and introspection as the viewer is immersed in the environment, an ordinary moment made extraordinary by the figure present in the car.

Similarly, in Wheel of Boy, Avett positions a young boy, larger than life, sledding down a snowy hill. In the background, Avett paints a giant spinner wheel of thoughts that occupy a young boy’s mind. Words vary from “God” and “Ego” to “Sex” and “True Love.” The work hints at the ideas of grandeur and celebrity that often occupy a central place in the cultural imagination, shaping how success is defined and pursued, but here they are gently unsettled, placed in conversation with something quieter and more personal. 

Boy is a continuation of Avett’s contemplation of faith, career, and family where Avett is able to capture both ordinary and extraordinary moments in paint. Avett depicts both images of saints and angels, but also his young sons. The works are arresting yet comedic, bringing together the mundanity, vulnerability, joy, and humor of boyhood. 

Scott Avett (b.1976, North Carolina)

Scott Avett (b. 1976, North Carolina) received his BFA from East Carolina University and is a multimedia artist whose figurative works explore banal, yet simply beautiful phases and moments in time. Internationally recognized as co-founder of the Grammy nominated band, The Avett Brothers, Scott Avett has been a working artist since 2000. Until now, his art-making has largely been a solitary creative pursuit in comparison to his life as a musician, singer, and songwriter. Avett’s large-scale canvases reveal an intimate look at growing up and now raising a family in the rural south. They are infused with the personal moments and inspiration Avett draws from his family and their surrounding North Carolina farmland, yet nuanced with the cultural and artistic influences he has encountered through years of life on the road.

Avett’s first museum exhibition opened at the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2019. This comprehensive exhibition highlighted his work across 20 years and spanned multiple disciplines, including painting, printmaking, and sculptural objects. An extensive hardbound catalog, Scott Avett INVISIBLE, accompanied the exhibition with an in-depth look into the artist’s visual art practice and the parallels to his songwriting and music development. A second iteration of this exhibition opened at the Greenville Museum of Art in 2022, titled Scott Avett: After The Fact. Avett lives and works in North Carolina.