The Washington State University Museum of Art announces the exhibition Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff, September 19 – December 13, 2014. An opening reception will be held 6 pm Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Museum of Art/WSU gallery with a talk given by the artist at 7 pm in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Admission to the museum is free.
We are thrilled to present 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.
Complementary Program:
Documentary Reception: (Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain) Oct 15, 6 pm, Museum of Art/WSU
Documentary Screening: (Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain) Oct 15, 7 pm, CUB Auditorium
Panel Discussion: (Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain) Oct 15, following screening, CUB Auditorium
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.
The Museum of Art is located on Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium in the Fine Arts Center on the WSU Pullman campus. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 10 am. – 4 pm., open until 7 pm on Thursdays and closed on Sundays. For more information please contact the museum at 509-335-1910 or visit our website at https://museum.wsu.edu.
