Cascadia Art Museum, Edmonds, will soon present the first solo exhibition of the work of Kenjiro Nomura (1896-1956) in over sixty years. It will feature the Japanese-American artist’s creations throughout his life. His early works focused on Seattle’s urban environment and rural Northwest landscapes. Next, he captured his life in World War II incarceration camps in paintings and drawings. His post-war abstractions fully demonstrate his artistic, stylistic, and professional growth.
Nomura left a collection of more than 100 pieces from his time in the Puyallup and Minidoka camps. Despite crippling challenges after World War II including the suicide of his wife, he resumed painting, developed a new abstract style, and once again gained recognition.
This exhibition, in partnership with Densho, offers a chance for Cascadia to present an important artistic history for our community and helps ensure that the history of Nomura and other JAs imprisoned during World War II is not forgotten.
The exhibition is accompanied by Cascadia’s latest book, “Kenjiro Nomura, American Modernist: An Issei Artist’s Journey,” written by art historian Barbara Johns, PhD, with a contributing chapter by Cascadia’s curator, David F. Martin.
Kenjiro Nomura, American Modernist: An Issei Artist’s Journey
October 21, 2021 – February 20, 2022
Info: www.cascadiaartmuseum.org
