# Deborah Roberts URL: https://vielmetter.com/artists/deborah-roberts/ Represented by Vielmetter Los Angeles Combining collage with mixed media, Deborah Roberts’s figurative works depict the complexity of Black subjecthood, redefine beauty, and critique ideals and stereotypes. Exploring themes of race, identity and gender politics, Roberts is renowned for creating semi-autobiographical portraits of African American girls and boys, primarily through her distinctive use of collage. Roberts imbues her figures with agency, thus providing them with unique and unfixed identities pointing toward their complex inner and outer lives. Roberts’s work mixes found imagery with hand-painted or drawn elements to create hybrid figures that skirt the boundaries of the real, and challenge notions of authority in image making. With collage, Roberts seeks to create a more expansive and inclusive view of the Black culture experience. **Deborah Roberts** was born in 1962 and is based in Austin, Texas. Her work has been the subject of many solo exhibitions including *The consequences of being,* FLAG Art Foundation (2025), New York, NY which traveled to the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY (2026);*Come walk in my shoes*at SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (2023);*Deborah Roberts: I’m*, The Contemporary, Austin, TX (2021) which travelled to Art + Practice, Californian African American Museum (CAAM), Los Angeles, CA (2022) and The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, FL (2022); *O’ Say Can’t You See*, Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (2021); *Deborah Roberts: If They Come*, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK (2019); *Native Sons: Many Thousands Gone,*Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (2019); *Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi*, Spelman Museum, Atlanta, GA (2018) among many others. Roberts’ work has been featured in numerous institutional group shows including *Icons, Archetypes, and Portraits*, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND (2025); *Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage*,” Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (2023) which traveled to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (2024); and The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. (2024); *The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse*, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, VA (2021); *Doro Olowu: Seeing Chicago*, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (2020); *The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today*, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.; *Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection*, Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2019); *Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary*, Californian African American Museum (CAAM), Los Angeles, CA (2019). *Still I Rise*, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2019); *Go Figure*, Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH (2018); *Reclamation! Pan- African from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection*, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA (2018); *Legacy of the Cool: A Tribute to Barkley L. Hendricks*, Mass Art, Boston MA (2018); and *Fictions*, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY (2017); among others. Her work is included in several public collections including, Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art New York, New York, NY; Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. ## Exhibitions - [Ongoingness](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/ongoingness.md): July 25 — September 5, 2026 · Gallery III · Artists: Edgar Arceneaux, Andrea Bowers, Alec Egan, Nicole Eisenman, Liz Glynn, Karl Haendel, Samuel Levi Jones, Mario Joyce, Mary Kelly, Nate Lewis, Hugo McCloud, Rodney McMillian, Dave Muller, Wangechi Mutu, The Estate of Pope.L, Robert Pruitt, Deborah Roberts, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Ariane Vielmetter - [Deborah RobertsConsequences of being](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-everson-museum.md): May 16 — September 27, 2026 · The Everson Museum · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Deborah RobertsConsequences of being](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-consequences-of-being.md): February 12 — April 25, 2026 · The FLAG Art Foundation · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Deborah RobertsMickalene Thomas inTo My Best Friend](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-mickalene-thomas-to-my-best-friend.md): January 23 — December 31, 2026 · ICA Boston · Artists: Deborah Roberts, Mickalene Thomas - [Andrea BowersLavaughan JenkinsMario JoyceRobert PruittDeborah RobertsGio SwabyKiriakos Tompolidis inIcons, Archetypes, and Portraits](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/icons-archetypes-and-portraits.md): November 6, 2025 — January 25, 2026 · North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND · Artists: Andrea Bowers, Lavaughan Jenkins, Mario Joyce, Robert Pruitt, Gio Swaby, Deborah Roberts, Kiriakos Tompolidis - [Wangechi MutuDeborah Roberts inThe Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/wangechi-mutudeborah-roberts-inthe-time-is-always-now-artists-reframe-the-black-figure.md): November 9, 2024 — February 9, 2025 · Philadelphia Museum of Art · Artists: Wangechi Mutu, Deborah Roberts - [Andrea BowersRobert PruittDeborah Roberts inGet in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/andrea-bowersrobert-pruitt-inget-in-the-game-sports-art-culture.md): October 19, 2024 — February 18, 2025 · San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MoMA) · Artists: Andrea Bowers, Robert Pruitt, Deborah Roberts - [Samuel Levi JonesPope.LDeborah Roberts inWhen You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/samuel-levi-jonespope-ldeborah-robertswhen-you-see-me-visibility-in-contemporary-art-history.md): April 7, 2024 — April 13, 2025 · Dallas Museum of Art · Artists: Samuel Levi Jones, The Estate of Pope.L, Deborah Roberts - [Genevieve GaignardWangechi Mutu Deborah Roberts inMultiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/genevieve-gaignard-wangechi-mutu-deborah-roberts-multiplicity-blackness-in-contemporary-american-collage-mfahouston.md): February 18 — May 12, 2024 · Museum of Fine Arts, Houston  · Artists: Genevieve Gaignard, Wangechi Mutu, Deborah Roberts - [Genevieve GaignardWangechi MutuDeborah Roberts inMultiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/genevieve-gaignard-wangechi-mutu-deborah-roberts-multiplicity-blackness-in-contemporary-american-collage-fristartmuseum.md): September 15 — December 31, 2023 · Frist Art Museum · Artists: Genevieve Gaignard, Wangechi Mutu, Deborah Roberts - [Deborah RobertsCome walk in my shoes](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-come-walk-in-my-shoes-less-than-i-greater-than.md): August 11 — November 6, 2023 · SITE Santa Fe · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Mary Kelly Deborah Roberts in To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/to-begin-again-artists-and-childhood.md): October 6, 2022 — February 26, 2023 · ICA Boston · Artists: Mary Kelly, Deborah Roberts - [Deborah Roberts I’m](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-i-m-los-angeles.md): March 19 — August 20, 2022 · Art + Practice in collaboration with the California African American Museum · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Deborah RobertsGenevieve GaignardPaul Mpagi Sepuya in Black American Portraits](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/black-american-portraits-or-with-deborah-roberts-genevieve-gaignard-paul-mpagi-sepuya.md): November 7, 2021 — April 7, 2022 · Los Angeles County Museum of Art · Artists: Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Genevieve Gaignard, Deborah Roberts - [Rodney McMillian Deborah Roberts inThe Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/the-dirty-south-contemporary-art-material-culture-and-the-sonic-impulse-or-with-rodney-mcmillian-and-deborah-roberts.md): November 5, 2021 — February 6, 2022 · Contemporary Arts Museum Houston · Artists: Rodney McMillian, Deborah Roberts - [Deborah RobertsI’m](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-i-m-denver.md): September 10, 2021 — January 30, 2022 · MCA Denver · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Deborah Roberts: O’ Say Can’t You See](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-o-say-can-t-you-see.md): September 4 — October 16, 2021 · Gallery III · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [Rodney McMillian Deborah Roberts inThe Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/the-dirty-south-contemporary-art-material-culture-and-the-sonic-impulse.md): May 22 — September 6, 2021 · Virginia Museum of Fine Arts · Artists: Rodney McMillian, Deborah Roberts - [Deborah Roberts I’m](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-i-m-austin.md): January 23 — August 15, 2021 · The Austin Contemporary · Artists: Deborah Roberts - [20 Years Anniversary Exhibition Part 1](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/20-year-anniversary-exhibition.md): July 18 — August 29, 2020 · Gallery I · Artists: Edgar Arceneaux, Math Bass, Whitney Bedford, Andrea Bowers, Kim Dingle, Sean Duffy, Nicole Eisenman, Genevieve Gaignard, Liz Glynn, Karl Haendel, Raffi Kalenderian, Ruben Ochoa, Stanya Kahn, Hayv Kahraman, Mary Kelly, Shana Lutker, Dave McKenzie, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, Esther Pearl Watson, The Estate of Pope.L, Deborah Roberts, The Estate of Steve Roden, Stefanie Schneider, Amy Sillman, Arlene Shechet, John Sonsini, Monique van Genderen, Tâm Văn Trần, Patrick Wilson - [Still I Rise](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/still-i-rise.md): June 15, 2019 — May 25, 2020 · MASS MoCA · Artists: Genevieve Gaignard, Deborah Roberts - [Deborah Roberts: Native Sons: Many thousands gone](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/deborah-roberts-native-sons-many-thousands-gone.md): April 13 — June 8, 2019 · Gallery I · Artists: Deborah Roberts ## Biography 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 Exhibitions** 2026 "What the water kept,” Salon 94, Paris, France "The consequences of being," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY 2025 "The consequences of being," FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY 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** 2026-2027 "Infinite Expansions," Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada 2026 "Between Here and Infinity: Celebrating 30 Years of the Spelman College Collection," Spelman College, Atlanta, GA "Made in Texas," Art Galleries at Black Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX "Ongoingness," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA "To My Best Friend," Curated by Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté, ICA Boston, Boston, MA 2025 "The Rose," Center for Photography at Woodstock, Kingston, NY (Touring Show) 2025-2026 "From Now: A Collection in Context," Studio Museum, Harlem, NY 2025 "Icons, Archetypes, and Portraits," North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND "Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection," Spelman College Museum of Modern Art, Atlanta, GA 2024-2025 "The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA ([Link](https://philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/the-time-is-always-now)) 2024 "This is Tomorrow," Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany "Irrationally Speaking," Ruby City, San Antonio, TX "When the Mountains Dance with the Ocean," Bode Gallery, Berlin, Germany "Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture," SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA "When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX "A Superlative Palette: Black Women Contemporary Artists," Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture, Charlotte, NC "Century: 100 Years of Black Art at MAM," Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY "The Whole World Smiles with You," Opera Gallery, London, England "One History, Two Versions," Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 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 "The Speed of Grace," Simões de Assis, São Paulo, Brazil "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 Hirshorn 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, VA "The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY ([Link](https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/the_slipstream)) 2020 "Drawing 2020," Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY ([Link](https://www.gladstonegallery.com/exhibition/7607/drawing-2020/info)) "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 **Group Exhibition Catalogues and Books** 2023 "Deborah Roberts: Twenty Years of Art/Work," Radius Books Gilman, Claire and Roger Malbert. "Drawing in the Present Tense," Thames & Hudson, New York, NY, pg 185-187, 2023. 2022 "True Believers: Benny Andrews and Deborah Roberts," San Antonio, TX: McNay Art Museum 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** 2026 Joseph, Melissa “Women by Women: Deborah Roberts” Bomb Magazine, March 2 Belasco, Daniel. "Deborah Roberts: The FLAG Art Foundation," Artforum, April 30 ([Link](https://www.artforum.com/events/consequences-of-being-flag-art-foundation-review-1234748503/)) Wilson, Samaira. "Letters to Deborah Roberts," Elephant, April 13 Graver, David. "In ‘Consequences of being,’ Deborah Roberts Explores The Ways Black Bodies are Seen, Positioned, and Understood," Surface Magazine, February 24 ([Link](https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/consequences-of-being-deborah-roberts-flag-art-foundation/#)) "Deborah Roberts debuts first ceramic works of career," See Great Art, February 6 2025 Kelly, Keyaira. "In Highest 2 Lowest, Black Art Is the Main Character," Elle Magazine, September 8 ([Link](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a65872519/highest-2-lowest-black-art/)) 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](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/opinion/collage-art.html)) 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](https://www.culturetype.com/2023/10/16/on-view-deborah-roberts-is-presenting-mixed-media-collages-that-consider-black-boyhood-at-site-santa-fe/)) Tribune Staff. "Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage September 15–December 31, 2023," Tennessee Tribune, September 19 ([Link](https://tntribune.com/multiplicity-blackness-in-contemporary-american-collage-september-15-december-31-2023/?fbclid=PAAaYm_BmU-79De-yXPTpOFlxzdkHv4ID0izhJsdedp9Yj0Y5a9neZCEm3yqE_aem_AY3RvTg5Rh82ER44z_WhXFPJa3gJkbHLGnoNGNkBebvBguLXvY3ieJEo8JImYBo1XPo)) SITE Santa Fe. "SITE Santa Fe Presents Deborah Roberts: Come walk in my shoes," Hyperallergic, August 18 ([Link](https://hyperallergic.com/839933/site-santa-fe-deborah-roberts-come-walk-in-my-shoes/)) Hessel, Katy. "‘Black kids deserve to grow old’: collage legend Deborah Roberts on unjust America," The Guardian, February 6 ([Link](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/feb/06/black-kids-collage-legend-deborah-roberts-tyre-nichols)) 2022 Szaroleta, Tom. "Multimedia show at Cummer Museum puts spotlight on Black children," The Florida Times-Union, September 25 ([Link](https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/09/25/jacksonvilles-cummer-museum-puts-spotlight-black-children/10379457002/)) 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](https://www.forbes.com/sites/chaddscott/2022/09/18/deborah-roberts-im-opens-at-cummer-museum-of-art-and-gardens-in-jacksonville-for-final-stop-of-national-tour/?sh=4eea5d307499)) Grant, Colin. "‘The story enraged me’ – US artist Deborah Roberts on her Child Q collage," The Guardian, June 7 ([Link](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jun/07/deborah-roberts-child-q-beyonce-collage-london-school-strip-search)) Knight, Christopher. "Review: Five pandemic-postponed art shows worth seeing right now," The Los Angeles Times, May 12 ([Link](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-05-11/review-backlog-pandemic-postponed-art-shows)) Wilbekin, Emil. "This Is Deborah Roberts' America," ESSENCE, April 29 ([Link](https://www.essence.com/art/deborah-roberts-artist/?amp=1)) 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](https://nymag.com/press/2022/01/new-york-special-issue-ten-years-after-trayvon-martin.html)) 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](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a38685357/and-just-like-that-art-keli-goff-racquel-chevremont-interview/)) 2021 Robinson, Shantay, "Deborah Roberts’ Investment in Time Pays Off," Black Art In America, September 30 ([Link](https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2021/09/30/deborah-roberts/)) 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](https://www.culturetype.com/2021/09/21/best-of-september-13-new-museum-exhibitions-feature-artists-ulysses-jenkins-adam-pendleton-deborah-roberts-naudline-pierre-arthur-jafa-lorna-simpson-more/)) 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](https://www.culturetype.com/2021/09/10/5-new-art-gallery-exhibitions-to-see-now-feature-deborah-roberts-carla-jay-harris-jarrell-gibbs-lakela-brown-and-brittney-leeanne-williams/)) Bachetepe, Hilal. "Deborah Roberts’ “I’m” Debuts at the Museum of Contemporary Art This Weekend," 303 Magazine, September 8 ([Link](https://303magazine.com/2021/09/deborah-roberts-im-debuts-at-the-museum-of-contemporary-art-this-weekend/)) 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](https://www.frieze.com/video/dr-v-joy-simmons-los-angeles-place-possibility)) Hernandez, Jasmin. "Magic, Joy and Celebration: New Art Examines the Eminence of Blackness," Sotheby's, May 19 ([Link](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/magic-joy-and-celebration-new-art-examines-the-eminence-of-blackness)) Little, Colony. "Deborah Roberts’s Intricate and Thoughtful Depictions of Black Childhood," Hyperallergic, May 3 ([Link](https://hyperallergic.com/638448/deborah-roberts-interview-thoughtful-depictions-of-black-childhood/)) Bennett, Joshua. "I Will Not Be Taught How To Behave," Art in America, May/June ([Link](https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/deborah-roberts-collage-defiance-black-children-1234591645/)) 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](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/international-womens-day-2021-1949310)) 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](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/arts/design/deborah-roberts-artist-virus-austin.html)) Cohen, Alina. "Why Some Artists Turn Away Would-Be Buyers," Artsy, March 27 ([Link](https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artists-turn-would-be-buyers)) Jones, Lauren. "6 must-see art exhibitions coming soon to Austin museums," CultureMap Austin, February 6 ([Link](http://austin.culturemap.com/news/arts/02-05-20-great-museum-shows-coming-to-austin-this-year/)) 2019 Fullerton, Elizabeth. "Deborah Roberts Renders the Complexity of Black Childhood in Collage," Art in America, October 7 ([Link](https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/deborah-roberts-renders-complexity-black-childhood-collage/)) Valentine, Victoria L. "Black Female Artists Are Headlining Exhibitions Throughout London," The Culture Type, July 21 ([Link](https://www.culturetype.com/2019/07/21/black-female-artists-are-headlining-exhibitions-throughout-london/)) 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](https://www.artforum.com/picks/deborah-roberts-80137)) Jansen, Charlotte. "The Artist Disrupting Perceptions of Black Youths," Elephant, June 25 ([Link](https://elephant.art/artist-disrupting-perceptions-black-youths/)) Barrie, Lita. "Deborah Roberts Explores The Fragility of Black Masculinity in Native Sons," Riot Material, June 5 ([Link](https://www.riotmaterial.com/native-sons-many-thousands-gone/)) 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](https://www.culturetype.com/2019/04/23/artist-deborah-roberts-joined-susanne-vielmetter-projects-los-angeles-and-has-an-exhibition-at-gallerys-new-downtown-space/)) Marcoci, Roxana. "Young Heroines: Deborah Roberts," Mousse Magazine, Spring ([Link](http://moussemagazine.it/deborah-roberts-roxana-marcoci-2019/)) 2018 Roberts, Deborah. "The Lives They Lived: Linda Brown," The New York Times Magazine, December 30 ([Link](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/27/magazine/lives-they-lived-aretha-franklin.html)) Sheets, Hilarie M. "A Collector Who Grew Up With Art Now Fosters Its Makers," The New York Times, December 26 ([Link](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/arts/design/show-us-your-wall-sarah-arison.html)) 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](http://www.artnews.com/2018/12/11/anonymous-woman-names-winners-2018-grants/)) 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](https://www.culturetype.com/2018/12/06/art-basel-miami-beach-2018-select-galleries-throughout-the-mega-fair-are-showing-works-by-african-and-african-american-artists-heres-where-to-find-them/)) Williams, Margaret. "People of the Year: Deborah Roberts," Tribeza Artists Curated, November 29 ([Link](https://tribeza.com/people-of-the-year-deborah-roberts/)) Onyewuwnyi, Ikechukwu Casmir. "Deborah Roberts at Luis de Jesus," Carla, Issue 13, August. ([Link](https://carlastore.bigcartel.com/product/carla-issue-13)) Dambrot, Shana Nys. "Deborah Roberts at Luis de Jesus," Art and Cake, June 10 ([Link](https://artandcakela.com/2018/06/10/deborah-roberts-at-luis-de-jesus/)) Luke, Ben. "Artist Deborah Roberts on Yinka Shonibare exhibition and why 'black is not a colour any more," Evening Standard, June 6. ([Link](https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/artist-deborah-roberts-on-yinka-shonibare-exhibition-and-why-black-is-not-a-colour-any-more-a3856441.html)) Mizota, Sharon. "Roberts' powerful statement of black female identity," LA Times, May 29 ([Link](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-deborah-roberts-review-20180530-htmlstory.html)) Miller, Ashia. “Deborah Roberts’ #EvolutionOfMimi art tackles heavy topic of colorism,” RollingOut, May 25. ([Link](https://rollingout.com/2018/05/25/deborah-roberts-evolutionofmimi-art-tackles-heavy-topic-of-colorism/)) Amirkhani, Jordan. "Art Review: 'The Evolution of Mimi' at Spelman Museum," BURNAWAY, April 25. ([Link](https://burnaway.org/review/deborah-roberts-spelman/)) 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](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59kapb/the-artist-changing-the-face-of-black-girlhood)) 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](http://www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com/news/deborah-roberts-uninterrupted-reviewed-by-mark-van-proyen)) Larocca, Amy. “Portfolio: Her Breakthrough Women,” The New York Magazine, February 5 ([Link](https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/fashion-portfolio-deborah-roberts.html)) Green, Tyler. “Deborah Roberts, Anita Witek,” Modern Art Notes Podcast, February ([Link](https://manpodcast.com/portfolio/no-327-deborah-roberts-anita-witek/)) Johns, Myke. “Artist Deborah Roberts ‘Emancipates’ Black Girlhood In Spelman Exhibit,” National Public Radio, January 25 ([Link](https://www.wabe.org/artist-deborah-roberts-emancipates-black-girlhood-spelman-exhibit/)) 2017 Twersky, Carolyn. “New Studio Museum Show,” ARTNEWS, August 23. ([Link](http://www.artnews.com/2017/08/23/heres-the-list-of-19-emerging-artists-to-feature-in-new-studio-museum-show/)) Marino, Rebecca. “Q+A with Deborah Roberts,” Conflict of Interest, July 17 ([Link](https://conflictofinteresttx.com/2017/07/qa-deborah-roberts/)) Scott, Andrea K. “March Madness in the Meatpacking District,” The New Yorker, April 10 ([Link](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/march-madness-in-the-meatpacking-district)) Anspon, Catherine D. “Austin Gets Its Own Art Fair,” Papercity Magazine, March 30 ([Link](https://www.papercitymag.com/arts/art-city-austin-art-fair-new-player-emerging-force/)) Kamm, Rebecca. “You Can’t Deny Us: The Artists Showcasing the Power if Female Athletes,” Broadly, March 28 ([Link](https://www.google.com/amp/s/broadly.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/ywmd7w/you-cant-deny-us-the-artists-showcasing-the-power-of-female-athletes)) Evans, Dayna. “What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Sports?,” The Cut, March 20. ([Link](https://www.thecut.com/2017/03/fort-gansevoort-march-madness-women.html)) 2016 Knudson, Rainey. “Naming and Shaming: Deborah Roberts at Art Palace”, Glasstire, November 21 ([Link](http://glasstire.com/2016/11/21/naming-and-shaming-deborah-roberts-at-art-palace-gallery)) Ryzin, Jeanne Claire van. “Contemporary art exhibit probes African-American identity," Statesmen, September 19 ([Link](https://www.statesman.com/NEWS/20160919/Contemporary-art-exhibit-probes-African-American-identity)) 2014 Huete, Betsy. “Deborah Roberts: One and Many,” Glasstire, November 29 ([Link](http://glasstire.com/2014/11/29/deborah-roberts-one-and-many/)) Ward, Jeff M. “Deborah Roberts: Reconstructing, Reacting and Rethinking at O’Kane Gallery,” Fluent Collaborative, issue 79, November 17 ([Link](http://www.fluentcollab.org/mbg/archived/issue79.html)) **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 **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, TX 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, NY (digital billboard) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, MA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND 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