Roger Shimomura

American, b. 1936

Untitled
1972-1975

Acrylic on canvas
60.375 x 60.125 x 2 in.
Gift of the Kathryn C. Wanlass Foundation
2022.30

Roger Shimomura is a third-generation Japanese American born in Seattle, Washington. Shimomura and his family were forcibly relocated to an internment camp for Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Through his art, Shimomura often reflects back on this experience and the psychological hardships which it brought to his family. He does this by combining elements of Japanese woodblock prints with American pop culture images.

In Untitled, Shimomura references the famous Japanese print The Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai. By referencing this traditional print, Shimomura asks viewers to consider the ways that time-honored pieces like The Great Wave have shaped modern art.

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Roger Shimomura es un japonés estadounidense de tercera generación nacido en Seattle, Washington. Shimomura y su familia fueron trasladados a la fuerza a un campo de internamiento para japoneses-americanos tras el ataque a Pearl Harbor. A través de su arte, Shimomura reflexiona con frecuencia sobre esta experiencia y las dificultades psicológicas que supuso para su familia. Para ello, combina elementos de las xilografías japonesas con imágenes de la cultura pop estadounidense.

En Sin título, Shimomura hace referencia al famoso grabado japonés La gran ola, de Katsushika Hokusai. Al hacer referencia a este grabado tradicional, Shimomura invita al espectador a reflexionar sobre el modo en que obras consagradas como La gran ola han dado forma al arte moderno.

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This object has the following keywords:

• brothels - Buildings designed or maintained as houses of prostitution.
• Japanese
• Lanterns
• Lilies
• mountain
• waves - Movements in the sea or other collection of water, by which a portion of the water rises above the normal level and then subsides, at the same time travelling over the surface; a moving ridge or swell of water between two depressions or troughs.
• women