Roger Shimomura

Painter, printmaker, and performance artist Roger Shimomura’s work and life are characterized by an attention to the experience of being Japanese American. Born in the relatively diverse city of Seattle, WA, to Japanese parents, the artist spent two years of his early childhood incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. Shaped by his time at Minidoka, his later life as a Japanese American living in the homogenous Midwest, and everyday experiences, Shimomura’s work combines elements of American and Japanese culture to take a humorous yet acerbic look at issues of identity. Shimomura utilizes his own questioning of self-identity and sense of alienation as a tool for uncovering racism, appropriation, and oppression.

Shimomura received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, and his graduate degree from Syracuse University, NY. From 1964 to 2004, he was a professor of art at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS, where he currently serves as emeritus faculty. He is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a McKnight Interdisciplinary Fellowship. Shimomura’s work is collected by many major institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Smithsonian American Art Museum. [Source: unknown and being research.]