The Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After: New Jersey City University
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, transdisciplinary artist Nobuho Nagasawa participates in a dual exhibition at the New Jersey City University Visual Arts Gallery.
The interrelated exhibitions The Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After and Take It Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error both contend with the theme of atomic power and its human consequences. Nagasawa's The Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After was first exhibited in 1992 in Los Angeles at Daniel Saxon Gallery. A focal point of the exhibition was her installation entitled Nuke-Cuisine, consisting of 835 “Cloud of Mushroom Soup” cans—in reference to the 835 "announced” nuclear tests in America from 1945 to 1992.
The iteration presented at the NJCU Visual Arts Gallery includes 120 cans of “Cloud of Mushroom Soup” with a wall installation of data on atomic bombs, portraits of Hollywood actors who suffered from radiation exposure, and other related works.
"By re-exhibiting many works 33 years later, The Atomic Cowboy uncovers the human fragility concealed beneath the spectacle of Hollywood’s 'cowboy' genre and its glorification of men as heroes. This lens reflects Nagasawa’s enduring ecological sensibility, one that embraces the interconnected realms of the natural environment, human society, culture, and politics."
The exhibitions are curated by Souya Handa.
The Atomic Cowboy
NJCU Visual Arts Gallery
September 17 – November 19, 2025
New Jersey City University:
JERSEY CITY, N.J. | New Jersey City University (NJCU) Galleries will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the NJCU Visual Arts Gallery hosts two interrelated exhibitions examining the ramifications of atomic bombs from multiple perspectives, opening Wednesday, September 17.
Running from September 17 through November 19, 2025 at NJCU’s Visual Arts Building Gallery — located on the lower level of the Visual Arts Building at 100 Culver Avenue on campus — the exhibitions will feature an artists' talk and reception on Thursday, September 25 from 4 to 7 p.m., and will participate in the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour on Saturday, October 4 from 12 to 5 p.m.
The dual exhibition features "Atomic Cowboy: The Daze After" by Nobuho Nagasawa and "Take it home, for (__) shall not repeat the error" curated by Souya Handa. Together, the shows aim to raise awareness about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the ongoing threat of nuclear warfare.
At the heart of Nagasawa's installation stands Nuke-Cuisine—835 "Cloud of Mushroom Soup" cans representing each announced nuclear test conducted in America from 1945 to 1992. NJCU will display 120 of these haunting artifacts alongside a comprehensive wall installation featuring atomic bomb data, portraits of radiation-exposed actors, and related documentation. Thirty-three years after its original showing, The Atomic Cowboy strips away Hollywood's romanticized veneer to expose the devastating human cost hidden behind the Western genre's celebration of masculine heroism. Nagasawa's work reveals how the entertainment industry's cowboy mythology masked a public health catastrophe, reflecting her broader artistic vision that connects environmental destruction with human vulnerability across political and cultural landscapes.
"Take it home, for (__) shall not repeat the error," curated by Hiroshima-raised artist Souya Handa, features work by four international artists: Handa, Kei Ito, Sixte Kakinda, and Layla Yamamoto from Japan, the United States, and Democratic Republic of Congo. The exhibition title derives from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park cenotaph. The show connects Manhattan Project histories with subsequent nuclear weapons development, creating a narrative from uranium mines used in the Hiroshima bomb through post-WWII nuclear tests to Fukushima.
Featured artists explore themes of technological development versus human ethics, radiation exposure among U.S. "downwinder" communities, connections between Congo and Hiroshima, and Japan-U.S. post-war relations through the lens of nuclear policy. Presented together, the two exhibitions aim to raise awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons and the ongoing threat of nuclear wars.
