Curatorial Walkthrough of Ken Ohara: CONTACTS
Mon, Feb 2, 2026
6:30–8 pm
Second Sunday, October 12, 2025. Installation view of Ken Ohara: CONTACTS (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 10, 2025–February 8, 2026). Artwork ©️ Ken Ohara. Photograph by Filip Wolak, digital image ©️ Whitney Museum of American Art
Tickets
Circle, Fellow, Sponsor, Benefactor, and Contemporaries Patron members are invited to this event. The invitation is for two individuals per membership household. To book tickets, log in using the email associated with your membership account, then complete your registration.
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The Hearst Artspace and the Seminar Room are equipped with induction hearing loops and infrared assistive listening systems. Accessible seating is also available.
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Floor 3, Education Center
Open to Circle, Fellow, Sponsor, Benefactor, and Contemporaries Patron Members
Join Curatorial Fellow and exhibition organizer Eli Harrison for an evening exploration of Ken Ohara: CONTACTS. Connect with the curator to learn more about the artist’s project and dive deeper into the exhibition’s development.
Ken Ohara: CONTACTS features selections from a single photographic work, CONTACTS (1974–1976), which takes the form of a chain letter. In 1974, New York-based photographer Ken Ohara (b. 1942, Tokyo, Japan) mailed his camera, pre-loaded with film, to a stranger he randomly chose from the Manhattan telephone book. Along with his camera, Ohara sent instructions that directed the recipient to photograph themselves and then return the camera to him along with the name and address of the next person he should send it to. The project unfolded over two years, with Ohara’s camera landing in the hands of one hundred different participants across the country. The final work is made up of the resulting one hundred enlarged contact sheets, which together create a fragmented and democratic portrait of everyday life.
Enjoy a light wine reception with fellow members accompanying this program.
