During his tenure at the University of Kansas, Roger Shimomura recently explained, “I met a farmer who asked me what I was and why I spoke English. By then, I’d gone through that conversation so many times as one of the few Asian faces in the Midwest.” A third generation Japanese-American and Seattle native who as a child was interned with his family during World War II, he explores such mistaken notions of identity and ethnicity in “Yellow Terror: The Collections and Paintings of Roger Shimomura.” (The 70-year-old artist, who often shows at Greg Kucera, lives today in Lawrence, Kansas.) The exhibit is full of appropriated racist caricatures–Japanese depicted with severely slanted eyes and sickly yellow skin–and the latest anime imagery.Image and details after the jump…Shimomura’s self portraits superimpose his face over cartoon icons like Sailor Moon and Astro Boy. Also on display is his collection of WWII-era ephemera accrued via eBay: salt-and-pepper shakers shaped like benign Japanese archetypes, newspaper cartoons with headlines like “How to Spot a Jap!” (It claims you can detect the enemy by wide spaces and calluses between their toes from wearing wooden sandals.) The Pop Art style of the show hardly masks its political content, however. As Shimomura said on opening night, “I was strangely attracted to the idea of creating art out of something that I hate.”Wing Luke Asian Museum, 719 S. King St., 623-5124, wingluke.org. $8.95-$12.95. Tuesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through April 18.
More Stories From This Author
Fourth of July weekend weather in King County
Expect mostly sunny and warm weather for the Fourth of July weekend in the Puget Sound region. Below is the…
King County jail audit finds issues in behavioral health services
Addressing the issues could reduce the risk of reoffending.
New King county park rangers to begin patrolling Saturday
Council members hope the increased presence of officials will deter break-ins at trailheads.