Currents 104: Bruce Yonemoto
Saint Louis Art Museum
St. Louis, MO
Inspired by the ways in which visual culture mediates our understanding of history, politics and race, Yonemoto will explore two significant wars in America’s past: the Civil War and the Vietnam War. Through two series of compelling photo-based work, Yonemoto mines civilization’s inclination and fascination for war, investigating the narratives of both wars through altered and actual representations of the soldier.
Focusing on the soldier as the iconic embodiment of war itself, Yonemoto embraces the longstanding tradition of portraiture and how it adapted to the advance of the camera. Foremost, Yonemoto explores the role of photography in making and shaping modern identity.
Respected as a pioneering media artist through his collaborative practice with his older brother Norman Yonemoto, Bruce Yonemoto has embarked on a solo career over the past decade. He has been featured in solo exhibitions at galleries in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo and at museums such as the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, MO, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA. Group exhibitions include the Gwangju Biennial and other shows at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Yonemoto currently serves as professor and chair of studio art at the University of California, Irvine. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Curated by Tricia Y. Paik, assistant curator of modern and contemporary art, Currents 104: Bruce Yonemoto will be on view in Galleries 301 and 338 through July 11, 2010.
