1962

Born in Austin, TX

Lives and works in Austin, TX

MFA, Syracuse University Research Fellow, Syracuse, NY

San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, (Summer Session) Pont Aven, France

University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2023

"come walk in my shoes," SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

2022

"Deborah Roberts: I have something to tell you," Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK

"Deborah Roberts: I'm," Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, FL

"Deborah Roberts: I'm," Art + Practice, in collaboration with the California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2021-2022

"A look inside," Bluecoat, Liverpool, England

2021

"O' Say Can't You See," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Deborah Roberts: I'm," The Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX

2019

"Deborah Roberts: If They Come," Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK

"Native Sons: Many Thousands Gone," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

2018

"Fragile but Fixable," Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Uninterrupted," Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA

"Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi," Spelman Museum, Atlanta, GA

2017

"Ingenue," Fort Gansevoort Gallery, New York, NY

"Nobody’s Darling: New Works by Deborah Roberts," Christian-Green Gallery, Austin, TX

2016

"Coil, Coarse, Twist, Re-twist," Art Palace, Houston, TX

2014

"One and Many," Art Palace, Houston, TX

"Domestic Disturbance," Diverse Art Gallery, Austin, TX

"Consensual Marks," SDCC, Dallas, TX

2013

"When We Just Existed," Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse, NY

2011

"Resistance Begins at Home: Rethinking Otherness," Dallas, TX

2008

"Forks and Spoons," South Dallas Culture Center, Dallas, TX

2006

"Bearing Witness," Stone Metal Press, San Antonio, TX

"Reconstructing, Rethinking, Reacting," O’Kane Gallery, Houston, TX

2004

Chicago Culture Center (South Shore) Chicago, Ill

Center for African & African American Studies, Austin, TX

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026

Group Show, Curated by Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté, ICA Boston, Boston, MA (forthcoming)

2025

"Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection," Spelman College Museum of Modern Art, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)

2024-2025

"The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (Link)

2024

"When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

2023

"The Speed of Grace," Simões de Assis, São Paulo, Brazil

2023-2024

"Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage ," Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN; Traveling to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (2024); The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. (2024)

2023

"Creative Sources," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

"Deborah Roberts and Niki de Saint Phalle: The Conversation Continues," Two Person Exhibition, Galerie Mitterand, Paris, France

"Deborah Roberts and Niki de Saint Phalle: The Conversation Continues," Galerie Mitterand, Paris, France

2022-2023

"Put It This Way: (Re)Visions Of The Hirshhorn Collection," Hishhorn Museum, Washington D.C.

"True Believers: Benny Andrews & Deborah Roberts," McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX

"To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood," Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA

2022

"51 @ 51," Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada

"Women Painting Women," The Modern, Fort Worth, TX

"From Near and Far: Collage and Figuration in the Contemporary Age," Co curated by Deborah Roberts, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London UK

"Rituals of Resilience," Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

2021-2022

"Assembly: New Acquisitions by Contemporary Black Artists," Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX

2021

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA

"The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia

"The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (Link)

2020

"Drawing 2020," Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY (Link)

"The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today," National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri; touring to Alaska State Museum, Juneau, Alaska

"20 Years," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"100 Drawings from Now," The Drawing Center, New York, NY

"25 Years," Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England

"Artists for New York," Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY

"True Likeness," Van Every/ Smith Galleries, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

"Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection," Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida

"Doro Olowu: Seeing Chicago," Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

"LA stories," Brenau University Art Gallery, Gainesville, GA

2019-2020

"Re/Devaluing Colorism: Intersections of Skin Color and Currency at Southwest School of Art," Texas

"Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art," 21c Lexington, Kentucky

"The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today," National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. (touring exhibition)

2019

"Melissa Cody, Bethany Collins, and Deborah Roberts: Heritage," Rebecca Camacho Gallery, San Francisco, CA

"Charles White and the Legacy of the Figure: Celebrating the Gordon Gift," Art Galleries at Black Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

"Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage," Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

"Get Up, Stand Up Now - Generations Of Black Creative Pioneers," Somerset House, London, UK

"Seeing Now," 21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, OK

"Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary," Californian African American Museum (CAAM), Los Angeles, CA

"Still I Rise," MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA

2018

"Sidelined," Galerie Lelong, New York, NY

"In the Eye of the Beholder," Tarble Art Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL

"Go Figure," Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH

"Reclamation! Pan- African from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection," Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

"Talisman In The Age Of Difference," Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK

"Soul Recordings," Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Legacy of the Cool: A Tribute to Barkley L. Hendricks," Mass Art, Boston MA

"Constructing Identity in America (1766-2017)," Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey

2017

"Fictions," Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY

"Your Body is Your Battleground," Volta Art Fair, New York, NY

"March Madness," Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY

2016

"I know why the caged bird sings," Carver Museum, Austin, TX

2015

"Gently Fried," MACC, Austin, TX

"The House on Mango Street," National Mexican American Museum, Chicago, Ill

2014

"The Way Out- MFA," Rogue Space, New York, NY

2013

"Gender Is A Kind of Doing," MCCLA Galleries, San Francisco CA

2011

The Drawing Center, Viewing Program, New York

"Mirame: 21st century portraits for Latino/a America," Sacramento, CA

2009

"Women of Color," Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA

"Her Stories," Park School, Baltimore. MD

2007

"Taking Possession," University of Arkansas at Little Rock

"Counter Intuitive," Chicago State University, Chicago, Ill

2006

"Uncle Tom to Peeping Tom," University of Milwaukee UGA, Milwaukee, WI

"Boundless, Perceptions from Within," DAC, Austin, TX

2005

Museum of Science and Industry Juried Exhibition. Chicago, Ill

Woman Made Gallery, Juried Exhibition, Chicago, Ill

"Subjective Visions," UTSA, San Antonio, TX

"Figure It Out," Art Palace Austin, TX

2004

Susan Woodson Gallery, Chicago, Ill

"Unmasked: A Collective Statement on Beauty," Butridge Gallery Austin, TX

2003

"Bird," Juried Exhibition, Concordia University, Austin, TX

"Our Heritage–Creating New Legacies," Juried Exhibition, Butridge Gallery, Austin, TX

Austin Bergstrom International Airport Juried Exhibition, Austin, TX

2002

Center for African American Studies, University of Texas, Austin, TX

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2019

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Finalist

2018

Anonymous Was a Woman, NY

2017

Artist of the Year, Austin, TX

2016

Pollock Krasner Foundation, Grantee

2014

SU MFA Exhibition “Best in Show”

2012-2014

Creative Opportunity Grant, Syracuse University

2010

San Francisco African American Legacy Scholarship

2008

Artist of the Year, Austin, TX

1991

President Point of Light Recipient, President George H. Bush

Residencies, Scholarships, & Prizes

2019

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency, Captiva, FL

2018

Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL

2014

Ginsberg-Klaus Award Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA

2011-2014

Syracuse University Graduate Research Fellow

2006

Coronado Studios Austin, TX

Stone Metal Press, San Antonio, TX

2005

Ox –Bow Art Residency, MI

Group Exhibition Catalogues and Books

2023

Gilman, Claire and Roger Malbert. "Drawing in the Present Tense," Thames & Hudson, New York, NY, pg 185-187, 2023.

2020

Ringle, Hallie. “Deborah Roberts and Questions of Power,” Collecting Black Studies. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.

25 Years, Exhibition catalogue, edited by Gerrie van Noord and Jonathan Horrocks, published by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England

2019

Elliot, Patrick, Dr. Freya Gowrley, and Yuval Etgar. "Cut and Paste 400 Years of Collage," Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland.

Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers, Somerset House, London, England, p. 127

Rose King, Daniella. "If they come," London: Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England

Barnwell Brownlee, Andrea. "Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi," Atlanta: Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA

2018

Washington, Terence. “Deborah Roberts: At the Edge of White Spaces,” Fictions. New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY

Bibliography

2024

Valentine, Victoria L. "On View: "When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History' At Dallas Museum of Art Showcases Recent Acquisitions by Artists of Color, Women, and Queer Artists," Culture Type, August 13

Artnet News. "A New Show of Collage by African-American Artists Finds Multiplicity in Black Identity," Artnet News, July 4

2023

Renkl, Margaret. "Piecing Together a Black Identity, and a Whole Black World," The New York Times, December 11 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L. "On View: Deborah Roberts is Presenting Mixed-Media Collages that Consider Black Boyhood at SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico," CultureType, October 16 (Link)

Tribune Staff. "Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage September 15–December 31, 2023," Tennessee Tribune, September 19 (Link)

SITE Santa Fe. "SITE Santa Fe Presents Deborah Roberts: Come walk in my shoes," Hyperallergic, August 18 (Link)

Hessel, Katy. "‘Black kids deserve to grow old’: collage legend Deborah Roberts on unjust America," The Guardian, February 6 (Link)

2022

Szaroleta, Tom. "Multimedia show at Cummer Museum puts spotlight on Black children," The Florida Times-Union, September 25 (Link)

Scott, Chadd. "‘Deborah Roberts: I’m’ Opens At Cummer Museum of Art And Gardens In Jacksonville For Final Stop Of National Tour," Forbes, September 18 (Link)

Grant, Colin. "‘The story enraged me’ – US artist Deborah Roberts on her Child Q collage," The Guardian, June 7 (Link)

Knight, Christopher. "Review: Five pandemic-postponed art shows worth seeing right now," The Los Angeles Times, May 12 (Link)

Wilbekin, Emil. "This Is Deborah Roberts' America," ESSENCE, April 29 (Link)

Harren, Natilee. "Reviews: Houston, The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Contemporary Arts Museum," Artfourm, pg 162, February

White, Aude. "New York Magazine Special Issue: Ten Years After Trayvon Martin," New York Magazine, January 31 (Link)

Rathe, Adam. "How And Just Like That... Made Lisa Todd Wexley's Apartment a Shrine to Modern Black Art Charlotte York Goldenblatt, meet Mickalene Thomas," Town and Country, January 6 (Link)

2021

Robinson, Shantay, "Deborah Roberts’ Investment in Time Pays Off," Black Art In America, September 30 (Link)

Ghassemitari, Shawn. "Deborah Roberts Collages the Strength and Plight of Young Black Children," HypeArt, 27 September

Valentine, Victoria L., "Best of September: 13 New Museum Exhibitions Feature Artists Ulysses Jenkins, Adam Pendleton, Deborah Roberts, Naudline Pierre, Arthur Jafa, Lorna Simpson & More," Culture Type, Sept 21 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L., "5 New Art Gallery Exhibitions to See Now Feature Deborah Roberts, Carla Jay Harris, Jarrell Gibbs, LaKela Brown, and Brittney Leeanne Williams," CultureType, September 10 (Link)

Bachetepe, Hilal. "Deborah Roberts’ “I’m” Debuts at the Museum of Contemporary Art This Weekend," 303 Magazine, September 8 (Link)

Gipson, Amarie. "The Museum Now, Part II: Deborah Roberts: Contemporary Austin," Artfourm, September

In Collaboration with Jo Malone London, Frieze Magazine. "Dr. V. Joy Simmons’ Los Angeles is ‘a place of possibility’," Frieze, July 23 (Link)

Hernandez, Jasmin. "Magic, Joy and Celebration: New Art Examines the Eminence of Blackness," Sotheby's, May 19 (Link)

Little, Colony. "Deborah Roberts’s Intricate and Thoughtful Depictions of Black Childhood," Hyperallergic, May 3 (Link)

Bennett, Joshua. "I Will Not Be Taught How To Behave," Art in America, May/June (Link)

Ragbir, Lise. "Deborah Roberts Shines a Light on the Mistreatment of Black Girls," Frieze, March 19

Artnet News. “26 Art-World Women Celebrate the Women Who Inspire Them, From Feminist Art Critic Linda Nochlin to Arte Povera Legend Marisa Merz,” Artnet, March 8 (Link)

Friel, Katie. "Dazzling San Antonio art museum adds landmark Texas artist to collection," Culture Map, February 26

Jarrett, Renae. "Where the Black girls are: A review of Deborah Roberts’ ‘I’m’," Sight Lines, February 27

Purcell, Barbara. "Deborah Roberts: I'm," The Brooklyn Rail, February 19

Faires, Robert. "Deborah Roberts: I'm" at the Contemporary Austin," The Austin Chronicle, February 19

Barnes, Michael. "Austin artist Deborah Roberts' Contemporary show 'I'm' concerns the art of being seen," Austin 360, February 9

Lloyd-Smith, Harriet. "The powerful collages of artist Deborah Roberts," Wallpaper, January 25

Florsheim, Lane. "Artist Deborah Roberts—a Favorite of Beyoncé and Barack Obama—Gets Her Due," Wall Street Journal, January 23

Marius, Marley. "In Deborah Roberts’s Art, an Interrogation of What Society Imposes on Black Children," Vogue Magazine, January 21

Brand, Heather. "With Fans Like Barack Obama and Beyoncé, Deborah Roberts Opens a New Exhibition in Her Hometown of Austin," Texas Highways, January 21

Oyeniyi, Doyin. "Deborah Roberts Has Exhibited Art Worldwide. She Hasn’t Had a Solo Museum Show in Her Hometown—Until Now," Texas Monthly, January 14

2020

Crable, Devorah. "Deborah Roberts, The Worst Of Times Are The Best Of Times," Pigment Magazine (print), Fall/Winter

Valentine, Victoria. "‘Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi’ Exhibition Catalog Wins Publication Award," Culture Type, December 15

Roberts, Deborah. "Remembering Juneteenth," Hyperallergic, June 21

Pogrebin, Robin. "With Her First Solo Museum Show Delayed, an Artist Stands Fast," The New York Times, April 12 (Link)

Cohen, Alina. "Why Some Artists Turn Away Would-Be Buyers," Artsy, March 27 (Link)

Jones, Lauren. "6 must-see art exhibitions coming soon to Austin museums," CultureMap Austin, February 6 (Link)

2019

Fullerton, Elizabeth. "Deborah Roberts Renders the Complexity of Black Childhood in Collage," Art in America, October 7 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L. "Black Female Artists Are Headlining Exhibitions Throughout London," The Culture Type, July 21 (Link)

Lee, Erin. “10 art exhibitions to see in July,” Royal Academy of Arts Magazine, July 1

Hutton, Belle and Daisy Woodward. “A List of Great Things to Do This July,” AnOther, July 1

Epps, Philomena. "Deborah Roberts at Stephen Friedman," Artforum, July 1 (Link)

Jansen, Charlotte. "The Artist Disrupting Perceptions of Black Youths," Elephant, June 25 (Link)

Barrie, Lita. "Deborah Roberts Explores The Fragility of Black Masculinity in Native Sons," Riot Material, June 5 (Link)

Grant, Colin. “Get Up Stand Up Now: Black British art’s response to the Windrush scandal,” The Guardian, June 2

Brady, Anna and Margaret Carrigan. “Private view: must - see gallery shows opening this June,” The Art Newspaper, May 31

Valentine, Victoria L. "Artist Deborah Roberts Joined Susanne Vielmetter Projects Los Angeles and Has an Exhibition at Gallery’s New Downtown Space," CultureType, April 23 (Link)

Marcoci, Roxana. "Young Heroines: Deborah Roberts," Mousse Magazine, Spring (Link)

2018

Roberts, Deborah. "The Lives They Lived: Linda Brown," The New York Times Magazine, December 30 (Link)

Sheets, Hilarie M. "A Collector Who Grew Up With Art Now Fosters Its Makers," The New York Times, December 26 (Link)

Greenberger, Alex. "Long-Running ‘Anonymous Was a Woman’ Grants Awarded for 2018, With Betty Tompkins and Deborah Roberts Among 10 Winners," ArtNews, December 11 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L. "Art Basel Miami Beach 2018: Select Galleries Throughout the Mega Fair are Showing Works By African and African American Artists, Here’s Where to Find Them," The Culture Type, December 6 (Link)

Williams, Margaret. "People of the Year: Deborah Roberts," Tribeza Artists Curated, November 29 (Link)

Onyewuwnyi, Ikechukwu Casmir. "Deborah Roberts at Luis de Jesus," Carla, Issue 13, August. (Link)

Dambrot, Shana Nys. "Deborah Roberts at Luis de Jesus," Art and Cake, June 10 (Link)

Luke, Ben. "Artist Deborah Roberts on Yinka Shonibare exhibition and why 'black is not a colour any more," Evening Standard, June 6. (Link)

Mizota, Sharon. "Roberts' powerful statement of black female identity," LA Times, May 29 (Link)

Miller, Ashia. “Deborah Roberts’ #EvolutionOfMimi art tackles heavy topic of colorism,” RollingOut, May 25. (Link)

Amirkhani, Jordan. "Art Review: 'The Evolution of Mimi' at Spelman Museum," BURNAWAY, April 25. (Link)

Cochran, Rebecca. "Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi," Art Papers, March 17.

Sargent, Antwaun. “The Artist Changing the Face of Black Girlhood,” VICE, March 6 (Link)

Feaster, Felicia. “The power and pathos of girlhood defines Deborah Roberts’ collages,” The Atlantic Journal Contribution, March 6.

Van Proyen, Mark. “Deborah Roberts @ Jenkins Johnson,” Square Cylinder, February 19. (Link)

Larocca, Amy. “Portfolio: Her Breakthrough Women,” The New York Magazine, February 5 (Link)

Green, Tyler. “Deborah Roberts, Anita Witek,” Modern Art Notes Podcast, February (Link)

Johns, Myke. “Artist Deborah Roberts ‘Emancipates’ Black Girlhood In Spelman Exhibit,” National Public Radio, January 25 (Link)

2017

Twersky, Carolyn. “New Studio Museum Show,” ARTNEWS, August 23. (Link)

Marino, Rebecca. “Q+A with Deborah Roberts,” Conflict of Interest, July 17 (Link)

Scott, Andrea K. “March Madness in the Meatpacking District,” The New Yorker, April 10 (Link)

Anspon, Catherine D. “Austin Gets Its Own Art Fair,” Papercity Magazine, March 30 (Link)

Kamm, Rebecca. “You Can’t Deny Us: The Artists Showcasing the Power if Female Athletes,” Broadly, March 28 (Link)

Evans, Dayna. “What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Sports?,” The Cut, March 20. (Link)

2016

Knudson, Rainey. “Naming and Shaming: Deborah Roberts at Art Palace”, Glasstire, November 21 (Link)

Ryzin, Jeanne Claire van. “Contemporary art exhibit probes African-American identity," Statesmen, September 19 (Link)

2014

Huete, Betsy. “Deborah Roberts: One and Many,” Glasstire, November 29 (Link)

Ward, Jeff M. “Deborah Roberts: Reconstructing, Reacting and Rethinking at O’Kane Gallery,” Fluent Collaborative, issue 79, November 17 (Link)

Public Collections

21c Museum Hotels, Louisville, KY

Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

American Patrons of the National Library and Galleries of Scotland, Brooklyn, NY

Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX

Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin

The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY

ICA Boston, Boston, MA

Let Freedom Ring Vol. 2, Lafayette and Flatbush Avenues, New York (digital billboard)

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC

Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL

Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL

Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH

Ruby City, San Antonio, TX

Scottish National Galleries, Edinburgh, UK

The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY