Matrix: Contemporary Printmaking - Museum of Fine Arts - Florida ...

Fall 2009
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS EXHIBIT:
ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Roger Shimomura
Roger Shimomura’s paintings and
prints address issues associated with
Asian-American culture, often inspired by
the diary kept by his immigrant
grandmother. Shimomura is a third
generation Japanese-American interned
with his family after the Japanese bombed
Pearl Harbor in 1942. His paintings, prints,
and theater pieces focus not only on racial
issues and stereotyping of Asian-
Americans but also on life in an internment
camp. For Tokio Ueyama (right) shows a
typical scene inside a Japanese internment
camp, combining the colors and graphic
elements of American Pop Art, like that of
Andy Warhol, with a stereotypical portrayal
of an Asian woman writing calligraphically
while dressed in a traditional kimono and
obi. The juxtaposition of these elements
evokes Shimomura’s dual interest. He
portrays the ill treatment of an entire
population as well as the ethnic confusion
of many Japanese Americans when faced
with the conflicting cultures of modern
America and their Japanese heritage.
Formerly a professor at universities
in Kansas and Minnesota, Roger
Shimomura retired from teaching in 2004,
and his personal papers and letters are
being collected by the Archives of American
Art, Smithsonian Institute, in Washington
D.C. Shimomura has had over 125 solo
exhibitions of his paintings and prints. He
has presented several pieces of
experimental theater in New York,
Minneapolis, and Washington D.C.
Roger Shimomura
Mistaken Identities: For Tokio Ueyama
2005
Roger Shimomura
Mistaken Identities: For Seattle P.I.
2005
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