2014 Roger Shimomura
Exhibition: September 19 — December 13, 2014
Reception: Thursday, September 18, 6:00 p.m., Museum of Art/WSU
Lecture: (Roger Shimomura) September 18, 7 p.m., Fine Arts Auditorium
A survey exhibition of the work of Lawrence, Kansas-based artist, Roger Shimomura, whose paintings and prints address sociopolitical issues of Asian America. He does this through a painting style that combines his childhood interest in comic books, American Pop Art and traditions of Japanese woodblock prints, thereby evoking his Japanese ancestry while locating him firmly within modern American artistic developments.
Our exhibition focuses on Shimomura’s most recent series, An American Knockoff (2009-present), in which the artist inserts himself as an aging Asian Everyman in various guises, both funny and poignant. He does this as an imposter in or a battler against a host of ironic, stereotypical settings: punching at a gaggle of Disney cartoon characters, joining Chinese Mao-era brigades, attacking Japanese stereotypes and assuming identities of such iconic American figures as Superman, George Washington and Dick Tracy.
Funding generously provided by: Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Art Endowment, Cleve and Judith Borth, Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom, Patti Hirahara, Members of the Museum of Art, Washington State Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Complementary programs include…
Documentary Reception & Screening: (Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain) Oct 15, reception 6pm, Museum of Art/WSU; Screening 7 pm, CUB Auditorium www.heartmountainfilm.com
Panel Discussion: (Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain) Oct 15, immediately following screening, CUB Auditorium
Performance: (Living Voices Theatre, “Within the Silence”) Nov 13, 7:30 pm, WSU Performing Arts Center, Jones Theater
Hirahara Photo Collection: Japanese Internment, Manuscripts, Archives & Special Collections, Oct 6-24, Terrell Library
Installation Exhibit: Student Entertainment Board, Oct 13-Nov 14, 2014, CUB Gallery Reception: Oct 15, 2014, 12-2pm
Panel Discussion: (Cartoon Propaganda), Dates TBD, Museum of Art/WSU
WSU History Department: From School to Armed Service: Loyalty and the Limits of Citizenship in Japanese America, Wednesday October 22, 2014 – 7 pm, CUE 419 – Free
To see a complete list of events and learn more about Japanese American internment, please click here.