Frame of Mind: The Incredible Art of Rising Social Media Sensation Andrew Scott

Who is the artist Andrew Scott?

Andrew Scott is an exciting, emerging American artist born in 1991, best known for his shattered glass work and conceptual frame alterations. Scott continually blurs the line between his subjects and the frames containing them by destroying the frames themselves.

Working with an otherwise minimalist aesthetic, Scott opts for a grayscale colour scheme with selective busts of red. His pieces are often populated by children engaging in play with their surroundings. Other popular images of Scott’s include a boxer smashing his way through a glass pane and a man using a pickaxe to break the frame surrounding him.

No matter the subject, the end result is the same: Andrew Scott’s works take on a life of their own. Scott is an artist who continually ‘breaks the fourth wall,’ bringing the inhabitants of his images out into the real world to fascinating effect.

Inspired by the communication style of editorial illustrators and street artists, Andrew Scott’s work is defined by visual plot twists, conceptual storytelling and symbolic subversion. Scott is interested in the complex psychology of the human mind and the variety of feelings that come with emotional growth, evident in the detailed facial expressions and intense behaviours portrayed in his illustrations.

'The Escape Part. II.' Courtesy of Andrew Scott

What techniques and tools does Andrew Scott use?

Andrew Scott often uses a hammer and nail to break the glass surfaces of his works. This can be seen in his popular pieces ‘Smash,’ ‘Foul Ball,’ and ‘Slingshot.’

In other pieces, Scott manipulates the frame by breaking it with a hammer and chisel, and then by using his hands to gently remove pieces of the splintered wood. Perhaps his most popular piece that uses this technique is 2023’s ‘Escape.’

Characters sometimes escape completely from within Scott’s works and onto the walls on which they are exhibited. Vinyl stickers are used to create this illusion.

Elsewhere, Scott has manipulated the paper that bear his signature illustrations, using either pliers to rip the material, such as in ‘Dig,’ which depicts a boy digging his way out of the bottom of the image. He has also folded and creased paper by hand, such as in ‘Jump.’ Scott has also used a boxcutter to create careful cuts in paper, as seen in ‘Escape Pt. II,’ which shows a man cutting through the art-piece with an illustrated saw to escape through a hole. In ‘Hide and Seek,’ he used an electric saw to cut the image of a boy and girl in half, wrapping the frame around the corner of a wall to create the illusion that they are hiding from one another as part of a playful game.

Andrew Scott has also used a blowtorch to create burn marks in his pieces. This has been used to fantastic effect in ‘Firework,’ which depicts a little girl playing with fireworks, and in ‘Burn,’ which shows a man throwing a molotov cocktail.

Many of Scott’s pieces also mix other mediums, such as string, as in ‘Tug of War,’ and ‘Swing’ and paint, spray paint and marker pen in his earlier works.

'Foul Ball.' Courtesy of Andrew Scott

Why is Andrew Scott’s art so popular?

With over 840,000 followers on TikTok, 1.2 million followers on Instagram and more than 1 billion total views across all social media platforms, there is no mistaking Andrew Scott’s popularity, and his star only seems to be continuing to rise.

The appeal of Andrew Scott’s work seems to be in its simplicity, its pared down aesthetic and its powerful messaging to take the ‘leap,’ ‘jump’ or ‘push’ (to borrow from the titles of his pieces) towards creative freedom.

For Scott, his previous life as a copywriter never felt quite right. Working alongside illustrators, he always felt envious of their jobs, feeling his own life lacked the creativity he yearned for. It was only after chasing after his dream job of being an artist that he came into his own as a creative tour de force.

"My current frame alterations are a manifestation of my emotional state of all the years I had abandoned art and felt trapped in a job and a world that didn’t bring me fulfilment. [...] When I began to pursue art again, I felt like I was taking control of my life. I was making a decision to become an artist and escape the corporate grind. Much like the characters in my frames, I was finally breaking out of the box that had closed in around me. It’s not surprising that most of my frames are focused on escape and breaking out of your comfort zone.”

Andrew Scott’s works function as direct and accessible metaphors - most people can empathise with the feeling of being trapped and wanting to break free. For this reason, the artist’s pieces have often been described as inspiring, thought-provoking and emotional. This allows them to also appeal to people outside of the traditional artworld and to those who have not previously identified as collectors.

'The Escape.' Courtesy of Andrew Scott

What is Andrew Scott’s art about?

Andrew Scott explores many different themes in his artworks. Some of his pieces depict young children playing, instrumentalising nostalgia to frame childhood as a time of life concerned with curiosity and dreaming, about living in the moment.

This notion works well with the theme of escaping from confines (represented by the frame), and into a world of freedom. It is significant that in Scott’s pieces depicting children, these characters are almost always engaging in play or creating mischief, resulting in delightful images, while his pieces of adults show a man (perhaps his adult alter-ego?) using tools to escape out of the boxes they are trapped within. Tools are figured as both Scott’s medium and and as his subjects. You could even say that art is the ultimate tool at play in his work, as it was this that allowed him to escape from the box he felt had closed in around him.

Overwhelming, Andrew Scott’s work is about the human experience, the good and the bad. It is about art as a means of escape, and as a tool of expression that can ultimately bring about a greater sense of freedom.

“My current work focuses on blurring the line between my illustrations and the frames containing them to explore ideas of psychological freedom and imprisonment.”

Where can I see Andrew Scott’s art?

Andrew Scott is represented by Stowe Gallery, whose physical space is based in Cheltenham, England. He exhibited with the gallery in 2023 for his fittingly named show ‘Breakthrough,’ and in 2024 for ‘Frame of Mind.’

Andrew Scott also films many of his artistic ‘experiments,’ which can be seen both on his Instagram and TikTok accounts.

'Tug of War.' Courtesy of Andrew Scott

Where is the best place to buy Andrew Scott limited edition prints and original works?

There are often only few opportunities in any given year to purchase Andrew Scott’s pieces on the primary market. Works are almost always released in tandem with his showings with Stowe Gallery. Enquire with the gallery directly to find out more about available works.

Stowe Gallery will also often release print editions of Scott’s most popular pieces, sometimes with special finishes in different colours.

Andrew Scott also occasionally makes himself available for commissioned works.

On the secondary market, FairArt has firmly established itself as the leading marketplace for both buying and selling Andrew Scott’s editioned artworks. Every time one of Andrew’s works are sold on FairArt, ¼ of the fees from every purchase go directly back to the artist, and provide an invaluable revenue to help Andrew continue to innovate his artform and focus on creating more works for his supporters.

Is Andrew Scott’s art a good investment?

Though it is difficult to give a definitive answer on whether Andrew Scott’s artwork, or any other artist for that matter, is a good investment, it is undeniable that his popularity has risen at extraordinary speed over the past year. With celebrities like Will Smith proudly displaying his pieces on social media and a dedicated cohort of young collectors on Instagram and TikTok singing his praise, it is certain that Scott is an artist who has captured a lot of attention.

This is perhaps no better represented by the sharp increase in the value of his works sold on FairArt. In 2023, Andrew Scott’s editioned work ‘Foul Ball,’ sold for £350 in November 2023. Fast forward to May 2024, and the same work is selling for £1000. The story is the same for his iconic image, ‘The Boxer,’ which sold for £475 in August 2023, but now fetches a price of £650. ‘Escape’ also sold for £475 in August 2023, but went for a whopping £1,650 in April 2024, an increase of almost 250%.

It is important to note that there are as of yet no available auction results for Andrew Scott’s work and FairArt remains completely unrivalled as the most extensive database for the artist’s secondary market.

Where to find upcoming releases by Andrew Scott?

The best way to keep track of upcoming releases by Andrew Scott is by following the artist on the FairArt website. By following the artist, you can ensure that you remain updated on any upcoming releases through our industry-first ‘Release Calendar’ feature.

Stowe Gallery and Andrew Scott’s social media channels also remain a great way to find out about any upcoming works by the artist, as does Andrew Scott’s website.