Deborah Grant (artist) facts for kids

Deborah Grant (born 1968) is an amazing artist from Canada. She is well-known for her unique paintings and collages, especially her series called "Random Select." Today, she lives and works in Harlem, New York.

Growing Up and Learning About Art

Deborah Grant was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1968. She spent her first four years there. She grew up in a Catholic family. Sometimes, she would create small Catholic shrines in empty lots in Brooklyn with her brother.

She studied art at college. In 1996, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in painting from Columbia College Chicago. Later, in 1999, she received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Tyler School of Art. After finishing her MFA, Deborah spent a summer at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Madison, Maine. From 2002 to 2003, she was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. This means she worked and learned there for a period of time.

What Her Art Is About

Deborah Grant's artworks tell imaginative stories through her paintings and drawings. She mixes images from many different places. These can be anything from comic books to art history books. She creates pictures that explore ideas about cultural identity, race, and politics.

Her art can be a burst of colors and collages, or it can be simpler. She explores how our minds are always full of information and thoughts. She shows how this "chaos" in our minds connects with what is happening right in front of us.

Awards and Special Recognition

Deborah Grant is a very talented artist, and she has received awards for her work. In 2011, she was given the William H. Johnson Prize. This award recognizes outstanding African-American artists.

Where Her Art Has Been Shown

Deborah Grant's art has been shown in many important galleries and museums. Some of these include:

• The Drawing Center in New York, USA
• The Institute for Research in Art at the University of South Florida, USA
• The Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, USA
• The Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, USA
• The P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, USA
• The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, USA

Art in Collections

Deborah Grant's art is also part of permanent collections. This means her work is owned by museums and will be kept there for a long time for people to see. One of her pieces, In the Land of the Blind the Blue Eye Man is King (created in 2007), is held at the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, USA.