The title eludes to Shimomura’s experience as a third generation American citizen who is all too often asked what part of Japan he comes from, and is too often misconnected to so-called “oriental” physical and behavioral traits. Actually he was born in Seattle and unfortunately spent several yea... Read more
The title eludes to Shimomura’s experience as a third generation American citizen who is all too often asked what part of Japan he comes from, and is too often misconnected to so-called “oriental” physical and behavioral traits. Actually he was born in Seattle and unfortunately spent several years of his childhood in an internment camp, Minidoka, in Idaho. These works are his “attempt to ameliorate the outrage of the misconceptions” and “in tongue-in-cheek fashion he becomes the same stereotypes.”
Shimomura’s newest paintings, in fabulous color, almost all include a self portrait. We see him, in art critic Lucy Lippard’s words “kicking ass” at his own country. They are dynamic, filled with references to pop art, in works such as “American vs. Disney Stereotypes.” The paintings include Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Popeye and the three little pigs, also Ukiyo theater folk. Often mistaken for Chinese, he goes for it and represents himself as a “Chinese Imposter,” as a General leading his Chinese army, and in other works he stands in for a Chinese communist, but also points at the color confusion by representing celebrants of Mao. A most powerful work represents the conundrum in Shimomura’s life, “American vs. Japs.” It shows him acting the part of a Japanese American, making a distinction between himself and the Japanese enemy during WWII.
