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The Art of Roger Shimomura by Shohei Akao


Books

  • Cassel, Valerie, Roger Sabin, and Bernard Welt. Splat, Boom, Pow! The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2003.
  • Kim, H Elaine, Margo Machida and Sharon Mizota, eds., Fresh Talk, Daring Gazes: Conversations on Asian American Art. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
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Newspaper or Magazine Articles

  • Goodman, Jonathan. "Roger Shimomura at Steinbaum Krauss." Art in America Oct 1999: 169-170.
  • Grigsby, E., Jr. "Unfolding a Hidden Rainbow of Cultures." Arts & Activities Feb. 1991: 26-42
  • Silberman, Vanessa. "Comic Imagery No Laughing Matter for Today's Artists: Some of Today's Most Sought-After Contemporary Artists Find Inspiration in the Comic Style." Art Business News Aug. 2003.
  • Silver, Joanne. "Show is a Comics Trip." Boston Herald 19 Sept. 2003: E23.
  • White, John Howell. "Roger Shimomura: Reviving Ancestral Voices." School Arts Dec. 1997: 25-28
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Newspaper or Magazine Articles on the Internet

  • Cady, Patrick. "Last Hurrah: A Performance Art Class Pays Tribute to Its Teacher. And No, It's Not a Made-for-TV Movie." University Daily Kansan. Dec. 11, 2003. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.kansan.com/stories/2003/dec/11/last_hurrah/>.
  • Darr, Jennifer. "Internment Days." Philadelphia City Paper 2 Jul. 1998. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.citypaper.net/articles/070298/pick.internment.shtml>.
    This article discusses how Shimomura's experiences made him feel like "the other." There was an incident at a 1971 auction in Lawrence, Kansas, when a local farmer approached Shimomura and harassed him with questions such as "Where are you from?" When he discovered that Shimomura's grandmother was from Japan, the farmer asked if he had any paintings of geishas in kimonos. Needless to say, this farmer didn't consider Shimomura to be an American, and assumed he was a foreigner. Of course, when Shimomura heritage was revealed, the first thing that came to the farmer's mind was geishas in their kimonos. This shows a lack of interest, and even ignorance towards Japanese culture that some people possess. Incidents like these motivated Shimomura to create a series of ukiyo-e prints known as the "Oriental Masterpiece" series. These prints featured stereotypes associated with Asians.
  • Fuller, Deborah. "Beauty from America's Internment Tragedy." ISU Bengal. Jan. 29, 2004.Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/...?norewrite200608101736>.
  • Hackett, Regina. "Shimomura Explores Racism in All its Guises -- From the Racist's POV." Seattle Post Intelligencer. March 11, 2004. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/164137_shimomura.html?...&searchdiff=0>.
    Regina Hackett delves deeper into the meanings of Roger Shimomura's paintings. His paintings are embedded with notions of racism and marginalization. While a high school student in Seattle, Shimomura dated a white girl whose father practiced racism toward "Oriental people." Shimomura knew his life was in danger if he appeared at the door of his girlfriend's home. From this experience, Shimomura created a painting portraying an Asian man with yellow skin, a gun in his hand, and an enormous tongue licking a white woman. Here, Shimomura portrayed a man of Asian descent from the father's point of view, someone who despised "Japs."
  • Kosuth, Dennis. "Memories of Racial Profiling: An Interview with Roger Shimomura" Socialist Worker Online. Oct. 19, 2001. Date Accessed: 13 August 2006. <http://www.socialistworker.org/2001/380/380_09_Memories.shtml>.
    In this article, Roger Shimomura speaks about internment memories of his family. Shimomura discusses "Not Pearl Harbor," a painting interpreting stereotypes attached to Middle Easterners, even though they have nothing to do with the World Trade Center attacks. Shimomura argues that discrimination directed against Arab Americans after 9.11 is similar to what Japanese Americans experienced during World War II.
  • Millis, Christopher. "Ouch! The ICA's 'Splat Boom Pow!' Misses the Mark." Portland Phoenix Oct. 24, 2003. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.portlandphoenix.com/art/tripping/documents/03262334.asp>.
  • Nishiwaki, Chris S. "Reminiscing About Racism." Northwest Asian Weekly 13 Mar. 2004. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.nwasianweekly.com/editorial/racism.23.11.htm>.
    This article discusses some of Roger Shimomura's paintings, explaining what they represent. Shimomura even targets the University of Kansas, where he is employed, in his painting "No Thanks." Here, he portrays the school's mascot, a Jayhawk, with buckteeth and slanted eyes. The painting was inspired by the University of Kansas Board of Regents 1942 veto against accepting Japanese Americans into the school. Another painting, "Do You Speak English?" is based on a racial incident involving Asian Americans who were harassed by Los Angeles police because they were seen as foreigners. This piece accurately portrays the stereotype of Asian Americans as "others" even when they are born here.
  • Paget, Mindie. "A Sansei Story." Lawrence Journal-World. May 2, 2004. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/may/02/a_sansei_story/>.
    This article offers background information about Roger Shimomura's life including a story about his family being denied a room, which had been reserved weeks in advance because they were of Japanese descent. Eventually, the Shimomura's were offered a dilapidated cabin far away from the office. Through experiences like this, Shimomura became conscious of discrimination directed at Japanese Americans. Shimomura creates art that raises awareness of racial discriminations. Anger and frustration drives Shimomura to paint with much his work focusing on the "othering" process that Asian Americans face daily.
  • Potterf, Tina. "Inspired by Personal Experience, Artist Makes Bold Statements Against Racism." Seattle Times. March 19, 2004. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/...&date=20040319>.
    Stereotypes and Admonitions is a series of artworks created by Roger Shimomura that concentrate on stereotypes and discriminations experienced by Asian Americans since World War II. These thirty paintings vividly portray the prevalence of stereotypes in the media, TV, and movies. Some of the paintings draw from racially motivated incidents with Shimomura relying on the accounts of regional or national newspapers. Shimomura began critiquing these events to combat his own feelings of invisibility as an Asian American living in Kansas.
  • Rice, Robin. "Asian Art Now: At the Brandywine Workshop, a Look at What's Going on Among Asian Artists Today." Philadelphia City Paper. March 27, 1997. Date Accessed: 9 Aug. 2006. <http://www.citypaper.net/articles/032797/article002.shtml>.
  • Rossella, Regina. "POV (Point of View)." Circia Art Magazine. March 11, 2004. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.recirca.com/artnews/252.shtml>.
  • Sherman, Elliott Ann. " Woodblock Diary: Roger Shimomura Remembers the Internment in 'An American Diary' at the San Jose Museum of Art." Metro. Nov. 30, 2000. Date Accessed: 9 Aug. 2006. <http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/11.30.00/americandiary-0048.html>.
  • Sherrill, Rachel. "The Return of the Yellow Peril." Collegian Online. March 26, 2002. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.utulsa.edu/collegian/article.asp?article=1154>.
    After 9.11, Roger Shimomura used paintings to draw comparisons between racism experienced by Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attacks and Arab Americans. In many paintings Shimomura included his usual stereotypical images of Asians, but this time added a turban and long beard to represent Muslims. These works of art, along with many others urge Americans to think before prejudging people we know nothing about.
  • Vanesian, Kathleen. "Sansei Sensibility: Artist Roger Shimomura Plays Historian and Reporter with Cartoonish Impressions of Life in an Internment Camp." Phoenix New Times. March 30, 2000. Date Accessed: 9 Aug. 2006. <http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2000-03-30/art.html>.
  • Wagonfield, Judy. "Shimomura Takes Aim at Truth, Justice." Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Dec. 8, 2001. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/49767_shimomura08q.shtml>.
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Websites

  • "An American Diary: Paintings and Prints by Roger Shimomura." San Jose Museum of Art. 2000. Traditional Fine Art Online. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa261.htm>.
    In a series of paintings titled, "An American Diary," Roger Shimomura draws from his grandmother's internment diaries. Her diaries express the dullness of camp life and speak to human courage. Paintings in this series are often very ironic. For example, the illustration for December 7, 1942 depicts a bowl of udon noodles along with a Baby Ruth candy bar. This represents the tensions between nation bound identities of Japanese and American.
  • "Artist Roger Shimomura to Exhibit Work at TU Feb. 21 to March 29." News/Events/Publications. Feb. 14, 2002. University of Tulsa. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006 <http://www.utulsa.edu/news/article.asp?Key=676>.
  • "Biographical Sketch." Provost's Lecture Series. 2004. Kansas State University. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.k-state.edu/provost/academic/lecture/2003-4/shimomura.htm>.
  • "Lawrence Artist to Speak About Culture and Cliché." News and Events Archive. Sept. 22, 2003. Emporia State University. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.emporia.edu/news/archives/2003/sep2003/shimomura_speaks.htm>.
    In this article, Roger Shimomura speaks about Asian stereotypes. In his paintings, Shimomura portray images that both insult and glorify Asian Americans. His paintings consist of geishas, ninjas, Japanese cartoon superheroes, chopsticks, pandas, and other images associated with Asian Americans. He also tells readers that people think he is familiar with martial arts solely because he is Asian. Often, he creates paintings targeting modern consumer culture. He references popular advertisements depicting images of Asian Americans as the "yellow peril."
  • McCraw, Fred. "Biography for Roger Shimomura." AskArt: The American Artists Blue Book. 2006. AskArt. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?artist=101644>.
  • Ramspott, Becca. "KU Professor of Painting and Performance Wins $15,000 Award." Office of University Relations. Nov. 12, 2003. University of Kansas. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006 <http://www.ur.ku.edu/News/03N/NovNews/Nov12/shimomura.html>.
  • "Roger Shimomura: Memories of Childhood." Drawings, Prints and Artist Books. 1999. San Jose Museum of Art. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.sjmusart.org/content/collection/highlights/drawings/...&typeID=drawings>.
  • "Roger Shimomura: Paintings, Prints and Mixed Media Sculpture." Roger Shimomura at Greg Kucera Gallery. 2006. Greg Kucera Gallery. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.gregkucera.com/shimomura.htm>.
  • "Shimomura to Give Inaugural Lecture on Performance Art." Roger Shimomura. 19 Jan. 1996. University of Kansas University Relations. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.oread.ku.edu/Oread96/OreadJan19/page4/shimomura.html>.
  • Shimomura, Roger. "The Artist's Story." Bellevue Art Museum. 1996. Microsoft Art Collection. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/artcollection/exhibitions/sep_dec/roger3.htm>.
  • "Stereotypes and Admonitions." Roger Shimomura at Greg Kucera Gallery. 2003. Greg Kucera Gallery. Date Accessed: 10 Aug. 2006. <http://www.gregkucera.com/shimomura_stereotypes.htm>.
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Asian American Studies Program
University of Maryland Undergraduate Studies