Incorporating the everyday method of “rubbings” to transcribe epitaphs from graveyards and mausoleums, Scott Covert creates text-driven drawings and paintings that engage collective consciousness and reference a wide range of human experience. His compositions juxtapose people from disparate eras and walks of life, as in Rose Violet Construction on Blue (2009), in which the name of boxer Sony Liston is featured alongside those of John Wayne and Gypsy Rose Lee; the works explore the cult of celebrity, their effect enhanced by the viewer’s recognition of the names represented. Covert’s technique is also familiar, used by archaeologists, ethnographers, and schoolchildren alike. He explains that he often sneaks into graveyards after dark and has to act quickly, executing the rubbings in energetic movements he likens to the action painting of Abstract Expressionism. His style recalls that of postmodern artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, who similarly merged abstract gestures with popular subjects.