On View
Not on viewObject number2000.18
Rocket Lounge, Alamogordo, New Mexico
Maker
Patrick Nagatani
(American, 1945-)
Date1989-92
Mediumcibachrome print
Dimensionsmat: 24 × 30 in. (61 × 76.2 cm)
sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
image: 14 7/8 in. × 19 in. (37.8 × 48.3 cm)
sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
image: 14 7/8 in. × 19 in. (37.8 × 48.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Lawrence K. Snider
Exhibition History"Focus on New Acquisitions: 1998-2000," KIA Long Gallery (Feb. 9 - Aug. 11, 2001).
"Photographs from the Permanent Collection," KIA Long Gallery (Sept. 2003 - Mar. 2004).
"Framing Moments: Photography from KIA's Permanent Collection," KIA (Feb. 6 - May 16, 2021)
Label TextPatrick Nagatani’s artistic work was greatly influenced by a historic event that happened just days before his birth in his ancestral hometown—the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Many of Nagatani’s collages are filled with images that harken back to the atomic design era of the mid-1940s to 1960, like the rocket ship depicted here. His work also often shows military technologies influenced by what Nagatani would have regularly seen living in the American Southwest near various military testing sites.
About the series Nuclear Enchantment, Nagatani writes, “My intentions are to raise public consciousness about the effects of New Mexico's nuclear industry, which continues to grow despite the damage it has already caused and will continue to bring to the state. Nuclear Enchantment attempts to awaken the many New Mexicans who still believe nuclear power poses no threat and that defense spending promotes the economy.” [Label for “Sugoi! 200 Years of Japanese Art", 2023]
