Roger Shimomura

For immediate release: Dec. 16, 2014
Media contact: Andrea Foust
Membership and Public Relations Manager
Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University | 503-370-6867
Public contact: 503-370-6855 | museum-art@willamette.edu

Roger Shimomura exhibitions reflect on the Asian American experience

SALEM, Ore. — The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is pleased to present a major retrospective exhibition, “Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff,” Jan. 17 through Mar. 29, 2015 in the Melvin Henderson Rubio-Gallery. The companion exhibition “Roger Shimomura: Works on Paper,” will take place Nov. 8, 2014 through Feb. 1, 2015 in the Study Gallery and Print Study Center.

Museum Director, John Olbrantz says, "As a painter, printmaker, and performance artist, Shimomura's range of works address the sociopolitical issues that have shaped his life experiences as a third generation American of Japanese descent. His remarkable body of work acts as a powerful and compelling self-portrait and window into the Asian American experience."

Shimomura's painting weaves together his childhood interest in comic books, American Pop Art and traditions of Japanese woodblock prints. The resulting art evokes his Japanese ancestry while firmly placing him within the landscape of modern American artistic developments.

A number of Shimomura's early works address his childhood experiences at the internment camp of Minidoka during World War II. In his current series, the artist inserts himself as an aging Asian Everyman in various guises, both funny and poignant. He does this as an imposter, 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 or assuming identities of iconic American figures such as Superman or Dick Tracy.

The companion exhibition "Roger Shimomura: Works on Paper" has been organized by Director John Olbrantz and explores a range of prints created during the past twenty-five years, drawn from local and regional collections.

Shimomura was born in Seattle in 1939 and is now based in Lawrence, Kansas, where he taught as a professor at the University of Kansas between 1969 and 2004. His work appears in over 90 museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.

"Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff" has been organized and distributed by the Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Financial support for the exhibition has been provided by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission, with additional funding provided by the Willamette University Office of Multicultural Affairs.

For more information visit willamette.edu/go/hfma or call 503-370-6855.

Additional exhibition related events

Shimomura is this year's featured speaker for the Willamette University Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. His lecture, "An American Diary," will be held on Jan. 23, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall at the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center. Complimentary tickets can be reserved online at willamette.edu/go/mlktickets.

The film "Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain" will take place on Feb. 10, 2015, at 7 p.m. and the film "The Cats of Mirikitani" on March 10, 2015 at 7 p.m. Both films are free and open to the public and will be held in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

On March 5 at 7:30 p.m., a free performance of Ken Mochizuki's "Within the Silence" will be presented by Living Voices in the Hudson Concert Hall, Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center at Willamette University.

Complimentary "Gallery Talks" will explore Shimomura's exhibition at the Hallie Ford Museum of art every Tuesday at 12:30 between Jan. 20 and Mar. 24, 2015

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ADDITIONAL PRESS KIT ITEMS

DETAILED EXHIBITION RELATED EVENT INFORMATION

Lecture with Artist Roger Shimomura
An American Diary
Roger Shimomura
Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center, Hudson Hall
Tickets: Complimentary tickets can be reserved online at willamette.edu/go/mlktickets. Capacity is limited.

As our featured speaker for this year's Willamette University Martin Luther King Celebration, Roger Shimomura will explore the theme, "Life interrupted, a look at displaced communities" by sharing his personal life experiences and how they have shaped his 40-year career as an artist. Through his art, Shimomura seeks to address and share a variety of profound life events that range from finding himself, as a third generation American child of Japanese descent, in an interment camp during WWII, to the stereotypes that he has encountered.

Gordy Toyama, the Director of Multicultural Affairs and the chair of the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, says, "Shimomura's stories and art provide us with a powerful lens through which we can reflect on many of the current day civil rights issues that surround incarceration, detention centers and immigration."

Complete Willamette University Martin Luther King Celebration List of Events: willamette.edu/go/mlk

For special access needs, such as interpreters, please call 503-370-6855

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Film
Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain
Tuesday, February 10, 2015, 7 p.m.
Roger Hull Lecture Hall, Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public

Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain explores the legacy of incarcerating thousands of Japanese Americans at the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming during World War II. At the heart of the film are the striking photographs of camp life taken from inside Heart Mountain by George Hirahara and his son Frank—both avid photographers. The Hiraharas were part of a 1,000 person contingent from the Yakima Valley in Washington, who were sent to Heart Mountain.

For special access needs, such as interpreters, please call 503-370-6855.

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Performance
Within the Silence
Presented by Living Voices and written by Ken Mochizuki
Thursday, March 5, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
Hudson Concert Hall, Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center at Willamette University
Free and open to the public

Within the Silence tells the story of Emiko Yamada, a young teenage girl growing up in Seattle's Nihonmachi (Japantown) during the early 1940s. The Yamadas own a small grocery store where Emiko works and dreams of someday going to college and becoming a teacher. The Yamadas are proud of their American life and their contribution to their new country.

When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, Emiko’s family is forced to sell their possessions and home and sent to Minidoka internment camp in Idaho. The story follows the Yamadas on their journey as they struggle to maintain their family while incarcerated and fight to sustain love and faith in the country they love.

For special access needs, such as interpreters, please call 503-370-6855.

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Film
The Cats of Mirikitani
Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 7 p.m.
Roger Hull Lecture Hall, Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public

The Cats of Mirikitani tells the story of 80-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani, who survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker takes him home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy’s painful past. An intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing powers of friendship and art, the film won the Audience Award at its premiere in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

For special access needs, such as interpreters, please call 503-370-6855.

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Tuesday Gallery Talks
Jan. 20, 2015 through Mar. 24, 2015
Tours commence at 12:30 p.m.
Join docents at the museum for a guided tour of the exhibition.
Free and open to the public

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About the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Oregon's third largest art museum features works by Pacific Northwest and Native American artists, and includes a diverse collection of traditional European, American and Asian art, as well as artifacts that date from antiquity. Frequently changing exhibitions include lectures, special events, tours, artist demonstrations and educational opportunities for children and adults.

The museum is located at 700 State St. in Salem. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Monday. General admission is $6, $4 for seniors and $3 for students 18 and older. Students 17 and under and children are admitted free. Admission is free for everyone on Tuesdays. For more information call 503-370-6855 or visit willamette.edu/go/hfma.