Artwork copyright Roger Shimomura. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Rambo #6, 1976

Roger Shimomura
(American, born 1939)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Spokane

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Rambo #6 is part of artist Roger Shimomura's body of work investigating cultural metaphors and stereotypes. The painting features three fighting figures in a style that is similar to Japanese woodblock prints.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Spokane Falls Community College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Celebrated artist Roger Shimomura creates thought-provoking paintings, prints, and performance pieces. His art practice investigates identities and stereotypes, especially as a person who was born and raised in the U.S. and is Asian American.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Shimomura spent two early years of his childhood imprisoned in Minidoka, Idaho, in a World War II Japanese-American internment camp in the 1940s. His family later returned to Seattle. Shimomura was a distinguished military graduate from the University of Washington, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in commercial design. He served in the Korean War (1950-53). In 1967, he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University in New York state.
Shimomura was a professor of art at the University of Kansas, Lawrence for 35 years until 2004. He was honored with a Kansas Governor’s Arts Award in 2008. His artworks are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Washington D.C.), the National Portrait Gallery (Washington D.C.), and more. His personal papers are being collected by the Smithsonian Institution.