All Roads Lead to Rome

About All Roads Lead to Rome

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.
“I often think about what we, as tourists, see ---and what we don't or choose not to see. Italy is a top tourist destination, in part, because of the good life available there, the wonderful food and wine, the luxury goods. It is also, of course, a destination for migrants. If they survive the Mediterranean crossing, they arrive on overloaded boats to the island of Lampedusa. After I heard a performance of "Lampedusa" by Malian musicians Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, I was struck by the tragedies many don't want to see. This is a choice as images of overloaded boats do exist in the international press, yet we glimpse them at the edges of our consciousness.
The city of Rome inevitably seems like a movie where emperors and centurions have been transformed from fearsome wielders of imperial power into cartoon characters.
Here in the West, Rome continues to be seen as a kind of cultural ancestor, even though (or perhaps because) they were a bloody, acquisitive empire. As the Roman historian Tacitus famously said about the imperial project, "They make a desert and call it peace." But for tourists, Rome is all fun. Visitors pose with legionnaires, a man dresses and acts as an emperor, and tourists flock to the Colosseum. The somewhat self-satisfied figure on the left (me) holds a glow-in-the-dark Caesar. Overloaded migrant boats float at the edge of the scene.

The Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum (our sea), a way of thinking that allows some to imagine that tourist destinations exist purely for our pleasure and entertainment. Those whose presence spoils the party will be ignored. Still, Rome remains my favourite city.” Deborah Root

Deborah Root is a painter, writer, lecturer and professor. She has written extensively on the relationship between visual arts and cultural politics. Root was born in Seattle and attended university in Canada before settling here. She acquired both her BA and MA in Archeology and Anthropology at Canadian universities and finally a PH.D. from the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought at York University. Her 1996 book entitled ‘Cannibal Culture’ was included in a 2017 Buzzfeed list (digital media company) of the 16 books to read to understand white supremacy in the United States. She has taught at several Canadian universities and has sat on the boards of a number of Toronto-based art and political magazines. Deborah Root has exhibited her paintings in both solo and group shows in Canada, the U.S. and Europe since 2017.