Deborah Roberts
The Inconvenient citizen

The Inconvenient citizen

© 2021 Deborah Roberts

The Inconvenient citizen
The Inconvenient citizen
ArtistAmerican, born 1962
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The Inconvenient citizen
Date2021
MediumCollage of acrylic, graphite, pastel, and inkjet prints
DimensionsImage: 52 × 38 in. (132.1 × 96.5 cm)
Frame: 56 3/4 × 42 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (144.1 × 108.6 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2021.395
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Description

In this
collaged and painted work, Deborah Roberts presents a kneeling preteen boy.
With his head resting in his right hand, he seems partially at rest; yet, his
left hand and wandering eyes convey a tension or danger. “At the base of everything
that I’m trying to say is that we’re starting off with an innocent kid,”
Roberts explains, “and I’m dealing with what society has drawn on.” This work’s
title, The Inconvenient citizen, references the complex politics that
Black children are forced to navigate. Though Roberts’s collages are meant to
reflect present inequalities, they also cele­brate Blackness, beauty, and
innocence.




ProvenanceThe artist; [Vielmetter Los Angeles]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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