Roger Shimomura Paintings

45 x 31 in.

Roger shimomura paintings. Roger shimomura born june 26 1939 combines american culture with asian traditions to create artworks paintings prints and performances that play on asian stereotypes and generate thoughtprovoking questions about racial and cultural identity. He is represented by the flomenhaft gallery new york city greg kucera gallery seattle eight modern gal. Government during world war ii. Roger shimomura s paintings prints and theatre pieces address socio political issues of asian america and have often been inspired by the diaries by his grandmother.

Roger shimomura is an american artist and a retired professor at the university of kansas lawrence having taught there from 1969 to 2004. His art showcased across the united states japan canada mexico and israel often combines american popular culture traditional asian tropes and stereotypical racial imagery to provoke thought and debate on issues of identity and social perception. Shimomura s paintings which combine american pop culture images with japanese woodblock prints are inspired by his own experiences of racism and by the diaries that his grandmother kept over a period of fifty six years. Museum purchase with funds provided by the american art initiative capital campaign 2013.

Roger shimomura japanese american born 1939. Instead he turned to his grandmother s diaries to at first create narrations for his performances art pieces and later for his paintings. Roger shimomura paintings prints and mixed media sculpture. In a group of 30 paintings roger shimomura s exhibition minidoka on my mind will explore the artist s family s internment during world war ii including some works suggesting his personal memories.

Loan from the collection of jordan d. February 21st 1941 1981. Great american muse november 5 december 24 2015 roger shimomura in a traveling group exhibition men of steel women of wonder crystal bridges museum of art bentonville ar through april 2019 and san antonio museum of art san antonio tx june sept. 20 000 roy s boys 2016.

The show s title refers to camp minidoka in hunt idaho where he and his family were detained from the spring of 1942 until the summer of 1944. Ink and color on paper edition of 46. He began teaching at kansas university in 1969 where he was legendarily tough on his students.