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Deborah Root Paintings

American, Canadian, b. 1953
Deborah Root came of age during the Vietnam War, in a family deeply affected by World War II. As a child, she listened to her father’s and grandfather’s stories of the Pacific war, alongside the accounts of women who experienced life on the home front. "The war" was a constant presence in her family’s life, with the once-assumed certainty of U.S. victory challenged during the Vietnam War. Much of Root’s recent work explores the impact of these wars within the family, incorporating seemingly dissonant images from art history, advertising illustration, and photography. Forms blur and bleed into one another, while elements are cut off—yet a narrative still emerges. Her fragmented compositions and bold colors heighten moments of disconnection in both social and familial contexts. Meanwhile, the relative flatness of the objects surrounding the central figures emphasizes the stagelike quality that defines many of the moments she portrays. "My hope is that a particular image might link up to a vast constellation of associations, whose symbolic nuances have migrated and transformed over historical time and geographic space yet remain embedded in the image. These intuitive associations evoke personal, psychological truths, or broader cultural narratives." Deborah Root Deborah Root's influences include Gothic art and early Spanish apocalypses, drawn to the contrast between the flatness of the images and the intricate arrangement of material on the page. She has also been influenced by pre-European Mexican conventions of representation, particularly the pictorial texts that function like storyboards. Eric Fischl’s depictions of suburban anxiety revealed to Root the narrative possibilities within such imagery, while the complex compositions of contemporary painter Kerry James Marshall—especially his integration of graphic design elements and bold color—have had a profound impact on her work. Currently, she is exploring the work of female Surrealists, with a particular focus on Leonora Carrington. In addition to being a visual artist working primarily in painting, Deborah Root is a cultural critic and writer whose arts writing explores the relationship between visual art and cultural politics. Her catalog contributions include in-depth essays on Sarindar Dhaliwal, Laureana Toledo, Jorge Lozano, Ximena Cuevas, and Annie Pootoogook. Her work has appeared in Art Papers, Prefix Photo, Public, C Magazine, the Contact Photography and Bienal de São Paulo catalogs, as well as other Canadian and international journals. Most recently, her writing has been featured in Rebecca Garrett: Search and Transmotion. Root is also the author of Cannibal Culture: Art, Appropriation and the Commodification of Difference and has taught visual art and cultural politics at OCAD University, the University of Guelph, and Bilkent University in Turkey.
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Artist: Deborah Root
The Nordstrom Box - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
The Nordstrom Box - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootThe Nordstrom Box - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2022

$5,500

The Nordstrom Box - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during socially relevant and politically important moments in time. “In The Nordstrom Box, popular culture operates both as a set of instructions and as a distorted mirror...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The Blue Bus is Calling Us - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
The Blue Bus is Calling Us - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootThe Blue Bus is Calling Us - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2023

$4,200

The Blue Bus is Calling Us - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic, colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home) - figurative, oil on panel
The 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home) - figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootThe 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home) - figurative, oil on panel, 2023

$4,800

The 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home) - figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Liberty Guiding the People - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
Liberty Guiding the People - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootLiberty Guiding the People - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2022

$4,200

Liberty Guiding the People - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

December in Oahu: A Dream of Victory - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
December in Oahu: A Dream of Victory - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootDecember in Oahu: A Dream of Victory - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2024

$4,200

December in Oahu: A Dream of Victory - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic, colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

All Roads Lead to Rome - contemporary, refugees, tourists, surreal, oil on panel
All Roads Lead to Rome - contemporary, refugees, tourists, surreal, oil on panel

Deborah RootAll Roads Lead to Rome - contemporary, refugees, tourists, surreal, oil on panel, 2024

$4,800

All Roads Lead to Rome - contemporary, refugees, tourists, surreal, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The 4th of May, Bring the War Home - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
The 4th of May, Bring the War Home - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootThe 4th of May, Bring the War Home - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2023

$4,800

The 4th of May, Bring the War Home - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The Quality of Mercy - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
The Quality of Mercy - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootThe Quality of Mercy - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2020

$2,800

The Quality of Mercy - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Peacetime (Tokyo, Forever) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
Peacetime (Tokyo, Forever) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootPeacetime (Tokyo, Forever) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2023

$4,800

Peacetime (Tokyo, Forever) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Sur L'herbe (on the grass) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel
Sur L'herbe (on the grass) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

Deborah RootSur L'herbe (on the grass) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel, 2021

$4,200

Sur L'herbe (on the grass) - contemporary, figurative, oil on panel

By Deborah Root

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary figurative oil painting explores themes of politics and culture. Deborah Root’s dynamic colourful compositions tell an intimate story about her experience during s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Deborah Root Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

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Deborah Root paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Deborah Root paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Deborah Root in oil paint, paint, panel and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Deborah Root paintings, so small editions measuring 40 inches across are available. Deborah Root paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,800 and tops out at $5,500, while the average work can sell for $4,800.