Shag: Animal Kingdom

Southern California artist Josh Agle's (better known as “Shag”) second solo exhibition with the gallery was named while painting in his studio during the Kentucky Derby. “I heard that a Thoroughbred named Animal Kingdom had won the Kentucky Derby. Since the painting I was working on had a horse in it, and all the paintings for the exhibit featured animals, it seemed to sum up the body of work I was making.”

Recognized worldwide, Agle’s iconic imagery celebrates commercial art from the 1950s and 1960s and is infused with playful narratives about consumerism and hedonism. “Ironic humor, impending trouble, or unexplained situations are common elements in most of my work,” Agle notes. For “Animal Kingdom,” his new collection of paintings returns to brighter and happier times. “Colors have become more radiant, and the men and women in the paintings seem happier and more satisfied in their hedonistic lifestyles.”