Best known for his conceptual and street photography, Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017) produced a highly experimental body of work grounded in the everyday. Playful and intellectually rigorous, his photographs highlight the pleasures of ordinary life, from subway encounters and skyscrapers silhouetted against the sky to such mundane objects as eggs, pencils, and analogue clocks. Yet Nakahashi often destabilized his subjects by placing them in unexpected, even surreal contexts, resulting in images that surprise, challenge, and delight. Seen through the eyes of this extraordinary artist, the more than thirty photographs on display invite the viewer into the strange beauty of Nakahashi’s world.

Celebrating a recent gift to the Bruce Museum’s collection, this exhibition highlights the artist’s creative vision, focusing on several unique aspects of his approach. Born in Ibigawa, Japan, Nakahashi moved to New York City in 1973, where he lived and worked until his death. Largely self-taught, he trained as a graphic designer before continuing his formal studies at the Pratt Institute and Art Students League. The built environment and cultural diversity of this urban metropolis inspired Nakahashi, who flattened and fragmented the city and its inhabitants into geometric and kaleidoscopic forms. Other photographs evoke the uncanny, depicting familiar objects—including bicycles, street signs, and mannequins—in unfamiliar ways.

The formal and conceptual ironies that play out across Nakahashi’s photographic oeuvre elevate the mundane into the extraordinary. Relying on absurdity, visual and textual puns, and unusual juxtapositions, his enigmatic images encourage viewers to contemplate the strange and surprisingly beautiful aspects of everyday life anew.

Kenji Nakahashi: Strange Beauty is organized by the Bruce Museum and curated by Margarita Karasoulas, Curator of Art, with Jordan Hillman, Curatorial Associate. Support for Kenji Nakahashi: Strange Beauty is generously provided by CT Department of Economic and Community Development, CT Humanities, and The Charles M. and Deborah G. Royce Exhibition Fund.

Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017)
Time–B, 1980 (printed 1985)
Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in.
Bruce Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi, 2022.01.33
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017)
Japanese and Italian, 1983
Chromogenic print, 10 x 16 in.
Bruce Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi, 2022.01.11
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017)
Good Morning Empire, 1987
Chromogenic print, 14 x 11 in.
Bruce Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi, 2022.01.56
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017)
Sculpture in Restroom, 1987 (printed 1992)
Chromogenic print, 14 x 11 in.
Bruce Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi, 2022.01.64
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Kenji Nakahashi (American, b. Japan, 1947–2017)
Pecan, 1987
Gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 in.
Bruce Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Kenji Nakahashi, 2022.01.15
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents