The 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home)

About The 5th of May, 1970 (Bring the War Home)

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.

“Here we witness a demonstration on Seattle's I-5 freeway against Nixon's bombing of Cambodia and the killing of four students at Kent State University. I was in high school at the time; my friends and I rushed down to the protest, along with 40,000 other people -- a huge number for a spontaneous demonstration. It seemed like the revolution was just around the corner and so, despite the bombings and Kent State, many of us were jubilant. It seems clear now that few of us had any idea of what we were up against. Revolutions are a brutal business, and consumption and status- seeking proved way more seductive than we’d ever anticipated. As a teenager I certainly had no idea of what social transformation might actually involve—I simply assumed that the revolution we were waiting for would be a relatively smooth process. The Pacific Northwest landscape is integral to the image, in part because Seattle was a radical city and very active in anti-war protests. At the same time, there were several military bases nearby. "Bring the war home" was a slogan used by leftist elements in the antiwar movement (although I gather that this term now has right-wing connotations). Thanks to the Seattle Public Library for digitizing the Helix, Seattle's "underground" newspaper, which had photographs of the protest.” 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.