Opening Reception for Yellow Peril Exhibit by Roger Shimomura August 29

Return of the Yellow Peril
A Survery of the Work of Roger Shimomura, 1969-2007

August 22 - October 26, 2008
Opening Reception
August 29, 4:15-6:00 PM
Roger Shimomura, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, combines Japanese woodblock prints, Pop Art styles, and comic book imagery in order to illustrate America’s clash of cultures and frequent bouts of racism. Many of his works impose on the “victims” the very stereotypes he wants to destroy. The exhibition is a chronological review of 60 paintings, prints, found art sculpture, and performance photographs documenting Shimomura’s prolific career. Shimomura’s deft, wry sense of humor and remarkable skill as an artist make a stunning visual presentation.

Faulconer Gallery director and exhibition curator Lesley Wright says the exhibition "demonstrates the artist's love of popular culture while using it to skewer the prejudice and stereotyping he has encountered over four decades.'

"Shimomura's deft, wry humor and remarkable skill come together in his work to dig deep at his identity, our cultural assumptions, and the marvelous follies of contemporary American art," Wright says. "We are eager to bring Shimomura's work to Grinnell because of the interdisciplinarity of his way of making art and the strength of his social conscience."

"Shimomura is a significant artist because of his charged, social subject matter," Wright said. "As an artist, he is as interested in art issues as he is in racism and prejudice.
Exhibition programming and events.

Oriental Masterpiece #1, from the Oriental Masterpiece series, 1971, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy Lonny Kaneko.

Return of the Yellow Peril: A Survey of the Work of Roger Shimomura, 1969–2004 is sponsored by ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, and The National Endowment for the Arts.