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| Roger Shimomura, Chinese Imposter #5, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 54”x 54”, image courtesy of the artist.
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BELGER ARTS OPENS TWO EXHIBITS ON FIRST FRIDAY IN OCTOBER
The fall exhibition season gets into full swing at the Belger Arts Center with an exhibit from local hero Roger Shimomura, titled Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff. “Dimensions and the Space Between” is a second exhibit featuring work from the Belger Collection that bridges 2D and 3D categories. Both exhibitions open the First Friday in October (the 7th). Paintings by Shimomura will be on display through January 14, 2017 and the Belger Collection works will run through December 17, 2016.
“An American Knockoff”, a traveling exhibition uniquely curated by each hosting gallery, comes to us from the Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle, which has a long history with Roger. The show will highlight Roger as a painter, with more than two dozen acrylic works on canvas. Throughout the exhibit you will see Shimomura on canvas with recognizable American icons such as Porky Pig, Goofy the Dog, and Uncle Sam.
Shimomura taught at the University of Kansas from 1969 until his retirement in 2004. In addition to an outstanding career as an educator, Shimomura has maintained a steady art studio practice and exhibited in more 130 exhibitions. In addition to painting, Roger's output as a printmaker is also impressive and includes many lithographs that were created at Lawrence Lithography Workshop (located on the second floor of the Belger Crane Yard Studios). He has won numerous awards throughout this career, including a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. |
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| Roger Shimomura, American vs. Disney, 2010, Acrylic on canvas, 54”x 54”, image courtesy of the artist.
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| Shimomura was born in Seattle, to two American-born parents, but his family was relocated to an internment camp during World War II, when Roger was three-years-old. For much of his career Shimomura has revisited the internment and what it meant to his family. The camp, Minidoka, was in Idaho and included armed guards in towers and fencing topped with razor-wire. The diary of Roger's grandmother, Toku, who was incarcerated along with the rest of Roger's immediate family, has been instrumental when Shimomura has searched for inspiration over the years.
Dimensions and the Space Between features three new acquisitions for 2016, sculptures by Matthew Monahan. All three sculptures were created as Monahan fired bullets from a Colt 45 pistol through 116 pages of printed paper. In addition, several artists from the Belger Collection who combine 2D and 3D elements in a single artwork will be on display. This exhibit examines how we define and relate to two and three dimensional work. Featuring some unique artwork, it’s worth a visit.
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| | ABOUT BELGER ARTS:
Since 2000, the Belger Arts Center has encouraged viewers to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of art and of the world around them. Drawing upon the extensive John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation collection as well as a rich variety of local, national, and international artists, the Belger Arts Center has staged over 70 large-scale exhibitions that represent some of the best in contemporary art.
In 2013, Dick and Evelyn Craft Belger expanded the Foundation's commitment to the creative process by opening Belger Crane Yard Studios, an arts complex dedicated to providing studio and exhibition space for artists working in a variety of media. A range of programming in ceramics education, in addition to the Red Star Artists-In-Residence program, has made Belger a center for contemporary ceramics.
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| BELGER ARTS CENTER 2100 Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri 64108 Wednesday - Friday: 10 am - 4 pm Saturday: 12 pm - 4 pm
BELGER CRANE YARD STUDIOS 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64108
Wednesday - Friday: 10 am - 5 pm Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm |
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