Josh Agle (born August 31, 1962) is an American
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
, better known by the nickname Shag.
Biography
Josh Agle was born August 31, 1962, the first of nine children in
Sierra Madre, California
Sierra Madre (Spanish for "mother range") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, whose population was 10,917 at the 2010 U.S. Census, up from 10,580 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. The city is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Vall ...
. He spent his early childhood in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, and later moved with his family to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. While Agle was attending high school, his family moved to
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. In the mid-1980s, he returned to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, to study economics and architecture at
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...
.
He changed his major to graphic design and achieved his first successes as an illustrator while in college, with work for the magazines ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' and ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''. Also, he designed record covers for bands in the area. When he designed a cover for his own band, the
Swamp Zombies, he first used the pseudonym Shag, composed of the last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his surname, so as not to make it look as if the cover artist was merely a band member, but that the band was successful enough to hire a graphic designer.
In 1995, Agle was asked by Otto von Stroheim to contribute a painting to an exhibition. This picture quickly sold for $200 and caught the attention of the influential gallery owner Billy Shire. Agle was given the opportunity to present a series of other works in a 1996 tiki-themed art show at Shire's
La Luz de Jesus Gallery in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. All of the pictures sold immediately and Shire was so excited that he organized an exhibition for Agle's works which was very well attended and which also quickly sold out.
Since then, Agle has had more exhibitions at various galleries in the United States, Japan, Australia and Europe. He had his first solo gallery exhibition in 1997,
and his first
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
gallery show in 2002.
In 2009, he opened a "SHAG Store" in
Palm Springs, which sells merchandise depicting Agle's works.
A second Shag Store was opened in Hollywood in October 2015.
He is also known for designing
Tiki mugs
Tiki mugs are large ceramic cocktail drinking vessels that originated in tiki bars and tropical-themed restaurants. The term "tiki mug" is a blanket term for the sculptural drinkware even though they vary in size and most do not contain handles. T ...
.
Shag has designed projects for
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and the
Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, as well as a 100-foot-long mural in the
Georgia Aquarium.
Josh Agle lives with his wife and their two children in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
.
[*, which describes a visit to their home]
Selected books
*
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*
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*
*
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*
Museum exhibitions and collections
* 2010 - Art Shack,
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
* 2009 - Urban Superstars, Naples Museum of Modern Art, Naples, Italy
* 2008 - Beyond Baby Tattooville,
Riverside Art Museum
Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...
, Riverside, California
* 2008 - In The Land of Retinal Delights,
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
* 2007 - The Flesh Is Willing: New Work by Shag,
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
* 2007 - Rome Is Burning, Haas Fine Arts Center, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
* 2005 - Pop Surrealism, Sangre De Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, Colorado
* 2005 - Paradirama, Musee International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France
* 2002 - The Sophisticated Misfit: Fifteen Years of Shag, Brea Museum, Brea, California
* 2000 - Lowbrow Art: Up From The Underground,
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
The Art and Culture Center/Hollywood is an arts venue in Hollywood, Florida at 1650 Harrison Street in Broward County. The Center presents contemporary visual and performing arts shows and includes an adjacent art school and the Hollywood Cen ...
, Hollywood, Florida
See also
*
Lowbrow (art movement)
References
External links
*
Shag at M Modern GallerySHAG the storeModCulture.com Interview with Josh "Shag" AgleJosh Agle at Jonathan LeVine GalleryShagwatch - Archiving exhibits, news articles and tracking the history of resold original paintings by ShagJosh Agle Unauthorised - A gallery for the work of mid-century modernist artist Shag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shag
1962 births
Living people
American artists
California State University, Long Beach alumni
People from Sierra Madre, California