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UID:events.uid.2744@www.discovernikkei.org
DTSTART:20101028T000000Z
DTEND:20101211T000000Z
DESCRIPTION:The Flomenhaft Gallery (<a href="http://www.flomenhaftgallery.c
 om/" target="_blank">flomenhaftgallery.com</a>) is proud to present Roger 
 Shimomura&rsquo\;s newest series of artworks\, &ldquo\;An American Knockof
 f.&rdquo\; The title eludes to Shimomura&rsquo\;s experience as a third ge
 neration American citizen who is all too often asked what part of Japan he
  comes from\, and is too often misconnected to so-called &ldquo\;oriental&
 rdquo\; physical and behavioral traits. Actually he was born in Seattle an
 d unfortunately spent several years of his childhood in&nbsp\;an internmen
 t camp\, Minidoka\, in Idaho. These works are his &ldquo\;attempt to ameli
 orate the outrage of the misconceptions&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;in tongue-in-c
 heek fashion he becomes the same stereotypes.&rdquo\;\n\nShimomura&rsquo\;
 s newest paintings\, in fabulous color\, almost all include a self portrai
 t. We see him\, in art critic Lucy Lippard&rsquo\;s words &ldquo\;kicking 
 ass&rdquo\; at his own country. They are dynamic\, filled with references 
 to pop art\, in works such as &ldquo\;American vs. Disney Stereotypes.&rdq
 uo\; The paintings include Mickey Mouse\, Bugs Bunny\, Donald Duck\, Popey
 e and the three little pigs\, also Ukiyo theater folk. Often mistaken for 
 Chinese\, he goes for it and represents himself as a &ldquo\;Chinese Impos
 ter\,&rdquo\; as a General leading his Chinese army\, and in other works h
 e stands in for a Chinese communist\, but also points at the color confusi
 on by representing celebrants of Mao. A most powerful work represents the 
 conundrum in Shimomura&rsquo\;s life\, &ldquo\;American vs. Japs.&rdquo\; 
 It shows him acting the part of a Japanese American\, making a distinction
  between himself and the Japanese enemy during WWII. Here he kicks the Jap
 &rsquo\;s ass. What a turn of events.\n\nRoger Shimomura\, in painting\, p
 rints and theater pieces has always addressed the sociopolitical issues of
  Asian Americans. He has had over 125 solo exhibitions and has presented t
 heater pieces throughout the country.\n\nHe is the recipient of more than 
 30 grants\, four of which came from the National Endowment for the Arts Fe
 llowship in Painting and Performance Art. He has lectured and has been a v
 isiting artist at more than 200 universities\, and the College Art Associa
 tion presented him with the Artist Award for Most Distinguished Body of Wo
 rk in 2002 for his four year\, twelve museum tour of the painting exhibiti
 on &ldquo\;An American Diary.&rdquo\; It was based on the diaries his gran
 dmother kept from the time she came to America as a photograph wife and in
 cludes her experiences in Minidoka. Shimomura was a Distinguished Professo
 r at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas\, Lawrence\, from
  1969 until he retired in 2004. He is now the University Distinguished Pro
 fessor of Art Emeritus of the University of Kansas.\n\nPresently there is 
 a travelling show entitled &ldquo\;Yellow Terror: the Collection and Paint
 ings of Roger Shimomura\,&rdquo\; co-curated by Roger and Dr. Stacey Urado
 mo-Barre\, the curator for the Art in Public Places Program of the Hawaiia
 n State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. It was produced by the Wing Lu
 ke Museum\, Seattle\, our nation&rsquo\;s only pan-Asian Pacific American 
 museum and an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. From Wing Luke it 
 will go to the Richmond Center for Visual Arts\, Western Michigan Universi
 ty\, opening on October 21st.
DTSTAMP:20240419T043658Z
SUMMARY:Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff
URL:/en/events/2010/10/28/roger-shimomura-an-american-knockoff/
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