Nobuho (Nobi) Nagasawa, a professor in the Department of Art at Stony Brook University, is participating in an exhibition at the New Jersey City University (NJCU) Visual Arts Gallery. The exhibition, titled “Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After,” marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and examines the effects of nuclear weapons from different perspectives.
The show references “Dirty Harry,” one of 97 nuclear tests conducted in Nevada between 1951 and 1958. During this period, many western films were produced nearby. Later, concerns emerged about increased cancer rates among Hollywood film industry workers who may have been exposed to fallout from these tests.
Nagasawa’s interest in radiation began during a project in central Japan in 1984. She described an experience that reminded her of radioactive rainfall after Hiroshima: “After seven days of continuous firing, a sudden localized rainfall occurred only at the site, triggered by rising air currents that seeded the clouds — an event reminiscent of the ‘Black Rain’ — the radioactive rainfall that followed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima,” she said. “This experience sparked my curiosity about the broader consequences of nuclear events, particularly the environmental and human effects of the mushroom cloud.”
Her research deepened after reading Takashi Hirose’s book “Why John Wayne Died” following her move to Los Angeles in 1987. “His book was never published in the US due to its controversial subject matter, as it explored potential links between the deaths of actors and actresses and their exposure to atomic bomb testing sites,” said Nagasawa. “The Atomic Energy Commission refused to acknowledge any of this, as did the Hollywood community. Reading it deepened my inquiry, connecting historical atomic events to cultural and cinematic narratives, and shaping my ongoing exploration of how art can reveal these hidden intersections between human life, the environment, and history.”
First exhibited at Los Angeles’ Daniel Saxon Gallery in 1992, “Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After” highlighted high cancer rates among those involved with filming “The Conqueror” near nuclear test sites. For this anniversary year, Nagasawa’s work is shown alongside “Take it home, for (__) shall not repeat the error,” curated by Souya Handa from Hiroshima.
Handa’s exhibition features four international artists and traces a narrative from uranium mining for Hiroshima’s bomb through postwar U.S. nuclear development up to Fukushima. Both exhibitions seek to raise awareness about nuclear dangers.
Central to Nagasawa’s installation is “Nuke-Cuisine,” which consists of 835 soup cans—each representing a U.S.-announced nuclear test between 1945 and 1990—alongside data on atomic bombs and portraits documenting radiation exposure among actors.
Reflecting on her work since its original showing three decades ago, Nagasawa said: “When I first exhibited The Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After in 1992, I sought to reveal how myths of progress, heroism, and entertainment concealed the violence of both nuclear testing and environmental destruction,” she said. “Today, the work resonates with contemporary realities — ongoing wars, nuclear threats, mass displacement, and accelerating ecological collapse. The radioactive dust of the 1950s has become a metaphor for the pollutants, carbon emissions, and moral debris we continue to generate. The installation now serves as a mirror, reflecting how cycles of denial and exploitation persist, and how the wounds of the earth remain inseparable from those of humanity.”
She further explained her intentions: “When I first began working on The Atomic Cowboy in 1991 during the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor I was warned that because I am Japanese people might associate the work with Pearl Harbor or impose a political reading on it,” said Nagasawa. “But that was never my concern. I don’t approach this from a national perspective — I see myself as a citizen of the planet. The story I’m addressing transcends national identity. Nuclear power recognizes no borders no ideologies and no hierarchies of fame or privilege It is an equal-opportunity destroyer.”
“The Conqueror,” filmed near Yucca Flat’s test range in Nevada with stars like John Wayne Susan Hayward Agnes Moorehead—and involving members from local Native American communities—has been linked with elevated cancer rates among cast crew extras as well as residents living downwind.
In conclusion Nagasawa hopes viewers will reflect on connections between conflict ecological harm accountability empathy—and recognize shared responsibility for both human society’s actions against each other and against nature:
“The work is not simply about past but about continuum destruction — how war industry consumption have shaped both culture climate,” she said.“I want audience sense fragility earth living organism feel haunting continuity between nuclear fallout today’s environmental collapse Ultimately hope Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After invites reflection accountability empathy recognize forces driving violence against planet are same perpetuate violence among people healing one requires acknowledging other.”
