Joplin - Compelling in its message and visually captivating the work from 1969-2007 of Japanese-American artist Roger Shimomura will be featured in a touring exhibit at the George W. Spiva Center for the Arts from June 14 until August 1, 2008.A companion Lunch-n-Learn event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 8, from noon to 1 p.m. The public is invited to bring their lunch to a free slide lecture, "Who Put the Pop in Pop Art?"
"The Return of the Yellow Peril," curated by William Lew, Ph.D. professor of art at Clemson University, showcases a selection of works that illustrate Shimomura's uniquely bicultural style and penchant for integrating images from ukiyo-e woodcut prints with images from American popular culture. Its been described as Pop Art with a Japanese twist. Using humor as a weapon, his artwork moves from ironic constructions of cultural identity to biting denunciations of racial prejudice.
The exhibition's title directly plays on the derogatory color metaphors for Asiansyellow peril and yellow terrorthat have been aimed at Asian Americans since the 1800s. The prejudice behind these metaphors resulted in the relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps following the Pearl Harbor bombing in December 1941. Two-year-old Roger Shimomura and his family spent the next two years behind a barbed-wire fence at Camp Minidoka in south-central Idaho.
Shimomura began creating art inspired by his experience as a Japanese American after he joined the art faculty at the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1969. An incident in which Shimomura was labeled as a foreigner though he was born in America and spoke English without an accent led him to a new artistic direction in 1971. He first created comic imitations of Japanese art as an irreverent response to such misguided perceptions. Over the years, his artwork evolved from light-hearted satire to serious critiques and from paintings to performance art.
Shimomura retired in 2004 after 35 years of teaching. His artwork is found in the collections of major museums, including Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington D.C., Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Seattle Art Museum.
The touring exhibition is a program of Exhibits USA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance in conjunction with the Missouri Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Locally the event is sponsored by the Commerce Bancshares and the William T. Kemper foundations with additional assistance from an anonymous Spiva Center family.
Spiva Center for the Arts is located at Third and Wall (one-way north) in downtown Joplin. The galleries and gift shop are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.. Admission to the Main Gallery is by voluntary contribution. Parking is available behind the center off of Wall.
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