Stylized Perfection: A Shag Story.

Josh Agle explores the genesis of his art at Hukilau 2016.

The Man, The Myth, The Mod

To his fans he is a god, creating an alternate universe on canvas filled with attractive characters in exotic locations portraying stories of mystery and debauchery. “My paintings are aspirational,” Josh Agle aka Shag told his audience at a recent symposium at Hukilau 2016 in Fort Lauderdale. “When I started painting I was painting places I wanted to be, people I wanted to hang out with, and situations I wanted to be in.” The feeling for many is mutual.
 
While working in a variety of genres as a graphic designer and commercial artist in southern California, Shag developed his own personal artistic style on the side. But when friend Otto von Stroheim booked Shag for his first gallery show at the Cacao coffee bar in Santa Monica, the burgeoning artist wasn’t prepared for his unexpected debut. He went to work, creating five paintings and sketching a couple of drawings he thought would look good on the walls of his own home; assuming none of them would sell. The result was Shag style.

Aloha

Josh Agle spent the first 8 years of his life in Hawaii with his parents, five brothers and four sisters. He credits those early years in the Aloha state, with providing inspiration and essence to his work. “Green moving grass is my very first memory in life,” the artist reveals. The grass he was referring to wasn’t actually moving, but the caterpillars covering it were. It was the color, the hue of lime green that stuck with Shag. Vivid shades of oranges, violets, greens and turquoise blues, were the colors of his childhood in Waikiki and now the colors filling in the characters, settings and stories playing out in his paintings. They are colors that would have been deemed too vivid, too acidic for the commercial illustrated advertising which influences his work along with the cutting animation of the 1950’s and 60’s. It’s a work that also incorporates the clean lines of mid century modern architecture with the Polynesian imagery of his childhood.  

Revolving restaurants with glass walls in Waikiki, give impetus to the glass walled setting of An Extraordinary Evening, LA Modern and Palm Springs After Dark. Figures from his youth are converted into characters in his paintings. “When I was a little kid and went camping, I remember a story about pineapple head.” Pineapple head now appears in numerous works along with drunken Shriners, Tikis, dancing hula girls, jet setters and well dressed cocktail sipping partygoers, hanging out by kidney shaped pools in Palm Springs; all representing the iconic Shag look.

Perfect Combination

The memories and essence of Polynesian culture and design are melded into the mid century modern influences of southern California and architectural drawings that created a better world than the one that existed. Referencing these drawings Shag explained, “you see the paintings of buildings and they’re highly idealized. Look how the architect hoped they would look before there were ugly cars parked out front and trashcans. And that’s kind of the world I try to create. That was the look I wanted to have.” Shag creates that world in his studio; usually wearing shorts and a t-shirt, with a true crime or other dialog heavy show playing on his tv in the background.  
A guy in the back of the audience asked Shag when he knew he had become famous, and that his work would live on, provoking a hearty laugh from Agle. “I still question myself and I think that’s part of the thing that keeps me working, keeps me trying to improve. What keeps me painting, to do a better art experience.” He added, “I hope people value my art after I die.” For now, fans will visually soak up the stylized, idealized alternate universe that is a Shag.