Exhibit review: The Return of the Yellow Peril at the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas

by Wendi McGowan of City Crush

Now, while I love the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Asian art can sometimes be a little “lofty” for me. Extremely traditional, genteel, and stuffy. However, this exhibit by Roger Shimomura -- The Return of the Yellow Peril: A Survey of the Work of Roger Shimomura, 1969–2007 -- is simply spectacular in its emotional delivery highlighting racial insensitivities toward Asian Americans ... hence “the Yellow Peril.”

A third-generation Japanese American, Roger Shimomura (b. 1939) has emerged as an elder statesman of contemporary social commentary art. For almost 40 years, his art has focused on racial topics about Asian Americans. His message, however, speaks to the larger community of marginalized groups in this country and addresses universal issues like identity, stereotyping and prejudice. This exhibition presents an overview of Shimomura’s art and the concerns of Asian Americans that have shaped his work.

Named after the series of paintings the artist completed in 1993, the exhibition title “Return of the Yellow Peril” plays on the derogatory color metaphors for Asians, “yellow peril” and “yellow terror,” (referencing skin tone) which originated in the nineteenth century. These phrases gained new significance after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the entry of the U.S. into World War II, when Japanese Americans came to be viewed as an extension of the “yellow peril” menace.

“Return” in the title recognizes the ongoing threat of the “yellow peril” as it has been fueled by the recent dominance of the Japanese auto industry in the American market. It further acknowledges the expanded specter of racial menace and accompanying injustices following September 11 and current national debates about illegal immigration and the job outsourcing practices of U. S. industries.

While I am a “good American,” Patriotic, capitalistic, everything else Anglo-Saxon Puritanical, I must admit that I was extremely moved by this exhibit. Two works affected me the most. The first was a simple picture about 3 feet wide by 1 1/2 feet tall full of framed small pieces of paper. Roger Shimomura titled the work “110 Ways to Spell My Name” and it is a collection of written documents, sales letters, ad mailings, etc. that he has saved over the years… ALL with his name misspelled. Being a person whose name is also frequently given a “y” instead of an “i,” I understand this feeling. However, my slight annoyance pales to this man’s repeated slights. The second work was two pictures that Shimomura drew as a child, one at age 5 and the other at age 10. Both were when a teacher instructed him to “draw your family.” Under this piece, the following quote from the artist which brought me to tears:

“(As an adult) I was shocked to discover that every time I drew my mother, I drew her with blue eyes and blonde hair. I assume that because I loved my mother dearly, I wanted her to have all the attributes of a perfect mother.”

This exhibit is one of the finest I’ve had the pleasure to view at the Crow Collection and I commend Jennifer Parker and Amy Lewis Hofland for bringing it to Dallas.