Roger Shimomura

These two works engage an ongoing debate about how the Constitution is interpreted by American legislative and judicial leaders. Carey Young’s installation defines a physical space where the laws of the United States do not apply. Shimomura’s lithograph depicts a soldier patrolling an internment camp, recalling that the constitutional rights of Japanese American citizens were suspended during and just after World War II. Both works suggest that civil and political rights are largely contingent on the priorities of elected individuals.

[see also: 2009.38]