GRINNELL'S FAULCONER GALLERY TO OPEN SHIMOMURA “YELLOW PERIL” TRAVELING EXHIBITION
By Cindy Deppe
Confronting racism. Revealing prejudice. Skewering stereotypes.
“Return
of the Yellow Peril: A Survey of the Work of Roger Shimomura,
1969-2004” will open on Aug. 22 at Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery
with 60 bold works by the American artist. “Yellow Peril” is a
chronology of paintings, prints, found art sculpture, and photo
documentation that Faulconer Gallery director and exhibition curator
Lesley Wright says, “demonstrate 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,
who is professor emeritus of art at the University of Kansas,
incorporates images from Japanese woodblock prints, Pop Art, and styles
from comic books and advertising. Many of his works explore the
internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, based on his
grandmother's diary entries and his own memories as source material.
“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.” Throughout the “Yellow Peril” exhibition,
Aug. 22-Oct. 26, Faulconer Gallery will host events that relate to
Shimomura's themes of confronting racism:
* Aug. 29: Opening reception at 4:15 p.m.
* Sept. 5: Gallery talk by visiting professor Tiffany Johnson Bidler on “Pop Art, Comics, and the Yellow Peril,” at 12:30 p.m.
* Sept.
10: Panel discussion by Grinnell faculty and students on “The Peril of
Marginalization” at 4:15 p.m., co-sponsored by the Center for Peace
Studies.
* Sept.
12-14: Showing of the documentary “Cats of Mirikitani,” at 8 p.m.
Shimomura was involved in making this film about a Japanese homeless
artist in New York City following 9/11.
* Sept.
24: “Translating Loyalty: Working with Minoru Kiyota on the Account of
his World War II Internment,” at 4:15 p.m. The lecture by 1965 Grinnell
graduate Linda Klepinger Keenan will relate her experiences translating
Kiyota's book.
* Oct. 3: Gallery talk on “Ukiyo-e Prints and the Work of Roger Shimomura” by Grinnell senior Chris Farstad at 12:30 p.m.
* Oct.
9: Scholars' Convocation at 11 a.m. by Shimomura, who will present his
work in the context of life experience and how Americans treat one
another.
* Oct. 11: Community Day, 1-3 p.m., with hands-on activities to reinforce family identity.
* Oct.
12: Panel discussion on “Democracy in Peril on all Sides: World War II
Veterans Reflect,” at 2 p.m., co-sponsored by the Center for Peace
Studies, the Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, and the World War II
Task Force.
All
events are in Faulconer Gallery unless otherwise noted. The traveling
exhibition, on display Aug. 22-Oct. 26, is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a
national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National
Endowment for the Arts. Gallery hours are Sunday-Wednesday, noon to 5
p.m. and Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information
about the exhibition and related programs, call 641-269-4660 or visit
http://www.grinnell.edu/faulconergallery. For more information about the
artist, visit http://www.rshim.com.
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