There are only a few days left to see the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center's exhibit of paintings by renowned artist Roger Shimomura.
"Selections from Shadows of Minidoka" explores themes from a dark period of American history: the imprisonment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II.
Shimomura’s paintings, prints, and theatre pieces address sociopolitical issues of ethnic identity. He has had more than 130 solo exhibitions of paintings and prints, as well as presented his experimental theater pieces at well-respected venues such as the Franklin Furnace, New York City, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Mr. Shimomura received four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Painting and Performance Art. He has been a visiting artist and lectured on his work at more than 200 universities, art schools, and museums across the country.
I'm delighted to have been asked to write an article for The Asian Reporter newspaper (Sept. 17 edition). Here's a quick excerpt:
"Selections from Shadows of Minidoka" explores themes from a dark period of American history: the imprisonment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II.
Shimomura’s paintings, prints, and theatre pieces address sociopolitical issues of ethnic identity. He has had more than 130 solo exhibitions of paintings and prints, as well as presented his experimental theater pieces at well-respected venues such as the Franklin Furnace, New York City, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Mr. Shimomura received four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Painting and Performance Art. He has been a visiting artist and lectured on his work at more than 200 universities, art schools, and museums across the country.
I'm delighted to have been asked to write an article for The Asian Reporter newspaper (Sept. 17 edition). Here's a quick excerpt:
The exhibit highlights everyday life during Japanese-American incarceration in World War II. About 120,000 Japanese Americans living in Oregon, Washington, and California were forcibly removed from their homes to internment camps in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and as far east as Arkansas. Sixty percent of those detained between 1942 through 1946 were United States citizens.
Like many of Shimomura’s past collections, "Selections from Shadows of Minidoka" highlights the sociopolitical issues of identity, ethnicity, history, and racial justice. The works featured are among 75 paintings, 35 lithographs, and at least 25 performance pieces created by Shimomura since the 1970s — all of which focus on the Japanese-American incarceration experience.
The exhibit is on view at the ONLC through Sunday, Oct. 7. The center is located at 121
NW 2nd Ave. in downtown Portland Exhibit hours are from 11am to 3pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and from
noon to 3pm every Sunday.