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A new chapter for SHAG |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2009-09-08 10:43 pm Permalink
Didn't know where to post this, in General, Marketplace or Collecting, but I think the most interesting aspect of this article is that Josh Agle is going in a new direction with his work. I'm looking forward to it:
"Looks like it’s last call at the epic art party between gallery owner Billy Shire and artist Josh Agle, aka Shag. Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City is hosting a “Shag Swap Meet” on September 12th to purge the gallery of all reminders of the retro cool it helped popularize after a falling out between the two titans of the lowbrow art world.
Shire has been exhibiting the works he once described as “modswingingsixtiesratpackagogoloungelizardwatusiwarriors” since 1996 and has long been one of Shag’s biggest supporters. The owner of La Luz de Jesus gallery even wrote the introduction to Shag: The Art of Josh Agle. “It was always,” says Shire, “a handshake deal.”
When the artist decamped for a competing Culver City gallery, Shag said it was “like breaking up with a long time girlfriend” but hoped his relationship with Shire could remain amicable."
I wish the best for both of them, but it kinda reminds me of an old friend who left his spouse in the middle of an argument only to come back and find his belongings donated to the Salvation Army.
Once the paintings, prints, toys, mugs, charms, barstools (Shire once said Shag was the “most merchandised artist since Peter Max”) are sold, it won’t be the end of Shag but a reinvention. “I’ll be exhibiting new work at Corey Helford in November” he told us. “The paintings will be much larger, darker in color and theme, and more personal. I don't know how much they'll appeal to the typical ‘Shag-fan.’ Who knows? Maybe I'm committing double career suicide by changing galleries and style.”
from L.A. MAGAZINE'S Buzz Cut Blog
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little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7460
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
| Posted: 2009-09-09 08:02 am Permalink
Hooray!
Way to go Shag!
Shedding the old skin
preparing for the new...
i just hope he keeps that sly humor with him
in this new phase of creating...
in Anthony Storr's book "Churchill's Black Dog,Kafka's Mice and other Phenomena of the Human Mind"
the author discusses 3 stages of creative/artistic development..
the apprentice/study phase
the mastery phase
and finally, a reassessment phase-a self-study leading to further growth
and sometimes a 90 degree change of style/medium/theme.....
After the skills have been mastered and he settles into his hard-earned position
the artist feels a need for introspection and examination and evolution...
This is the most fascinating period for an artist
because it sheds off material gain,popular support,and old foundations..
It's kind of like a CREATIVE mid-life crisis..
the eternal question of what is success?
is it making tons of money and isolating friends and family
or is it the joy,the liberation of creation itself?
I haven't been this excited about anything SHAG in a loooong time!
i do hope he still dabbles with the Tiki theme,tho!
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Koolau
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 23, 2006
Posts: 323
From: Oahu, Hawaii
| Posted: 2009-09-10 12:21 am Permalink
I figured something was up since Shagmart News hasn't been updated since April. Best wishes to Shag as he works out a new style.
Any thoughts about what this means: “The paintings will be much larger, darker in color and theme, and more personal." Does any of his recent work give hints about what this will look like?
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Tiki Shark Art
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Aug 31, 2006
Posts: 2771
From: The volcanic Big Island of Hawaii
| Posted: 2009-09-10 01:39 am Permalink
“The paintings will be much larger, darker in color and theme, and more personal.
Hmmmmm.... My guess is life sized naked portraits on black velvet.
[ This Message was edited by: tiki shark art 2009-09-10 02:16 ]
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6412
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2009-09-10 07:47 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-09-10 01:39, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
“The paintings will be much larger, darker in color and theme, and MORE PERSONAL
Hmmmmm.... My guess is life sized naked portraits on black velvet.
[ This Message was edited by: tiki shark art 2009-09-10 02:16 ]
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Maybe nude self-portraits, now THAT would be personal
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little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7460
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
| Posted: 2009-09-10 07:57 am Permalink
Maybe he's gonna examine the inner workings of fame and fortune
and how they affect the artist's psyche and life...
There is a deepness to his themes,but a lot of times it is masked by humor and wit
Maybe more message-less visual props?
more mystery?
more self-examination?
a successful artist remains and hides behind a signature style
the true artist examines and advances and sometimes changes...
how exciting!
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Clarita
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
Posts: 1234
From: BA Arg
| Posted: 2009-09-10 08:30 am Permalink
success, hm? to me that would be to be able to do what you need when you need it and be authentic/ honest about it... if you need money, go get , if you are fine with that, and you need to feel exited about your work, why not?
i'm glad for shag, it's a move that shows that not everything is about the evil dime....
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mundotiki
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Flickhead
Member
Joined: Sep 10, 2009
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2009-09-10 11:10 pm Permalink
The previews are online for the Shag Swapmeet items. There are about four dozen out-of-print giclees, three dozen or so toys, mugs and lamps, and around 10 original paintings from $1500 and up.
Here is the index page:
http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/currentshow/Shag-Swapmeet/Shag-Swapmeet_index.htm
The preview is hosted at the La Luz de Jesus site, but the actual swapmeet is at Billy Shire Fine Arts on Saturday, September 12. It starts at noon.
The prices on everything have been lowered drastically. Some of the prints, most of which are long gone and going for big bucks on the collector's market are priced less than they were new. I think I got the last Odalisque print.
[ This Message was edited by: Flickhead 2009-09-10 23:11 ]
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little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7460
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
| Posted: 2009-09-11 09:21 am Permalink
So...this is the way to reward a guy who HELD BACK supposedly SOLD OUT prints?
I know Billy is going to make a TON of cash off of this event...
it's just really sad that you're all not saving your dollars
to support Shag in his NEW artistic journey
but instead scramble to reward
a possibly unethical print situation
that probably won't compensate the actual artist too much...
friggin profiteering middlemen....
just my opinion again...
go SHAG!
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Tiki Shark Art
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Aug 31, 2006
Posts: 2771
From: The volcanic Big Island of Hawaii
| Posted: 2009-09-11 11:57 am Permalink
But..... it's ON SALE!
You know how people love a garage/yard sale! Strange, tiki was once found in the swap meets and garage sales of America: Now here's SHAG - the king of the neo-tiki world, being sold in a "high-end" swap meet.
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nichols
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 03, 2003
Posts: 43 | Posted: 2009-09-14 5:58 pm Permalink
Anybody attend? How did it go?
Here's the link to my original article, btw:
http://lamag.com/buzzcut/blog_post.aspx?id=19744
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The Monitors
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 08, 2003
Posts: 254
From: The ILL streets of Santa Clarita, CA
| Posted: 2009-09-28 10:28 am Permalink
HI All,
I've been gone for a while, but subscribe to the news letters of many galleries. I received a recent email from Corey Helford Gallery indicating that they will now be representing Shag and knew that something was amiss.
I found this post by BigBro and it finally confirmed it. Without starting wildfire gossip does anyone know what happened? Are there any more news articles, interviews or personal accounts that can elucidate the situation.
BTW, I'm actually excited that Shag is painting more personal subject matter. Painting from the heart can only make ones work better.
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The Monitors
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Tom Slick
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 26, 2005
Posts: 1083
From: The Beaches of South Bay, SoCal
| Posted: 2009-09-28 4:44 pm Permalink
I had talked to Piet very briefly at the Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary signing product release, and he said that Josh was ready to do different subject matter, in a more sinister/darker tone. What that means exactly, Who knows. I won't know until his upcoming show in Culver City this coming Oct/Nov, but I am excited to see the new focus of Shag. I just hope he never loses his roots that made him so sucessful in the first place...Tiki and Mid Century Modern!
I see so many of Todays artists doing dark. Big eyed children filled with emptyness and doom n gloom gore art just doesn't doit for me, personally. So I hope it is a different type of dark sinisterish style.
Love the work you've done Josh, and looking forward to Version 2.1
Godspeed on his new artistic endeavors.
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tiki-riviera
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 11, 2003
Posts: 658
From: Long Beach
| Posted: 2009-09-28 8:31 pm Permalink
Being a little bit of a Shag-o-holic, I decided to use up some of my frequent flyer miles and attend the swap meet. So I show up right at noon, because I'm use to the huge crowds that Shag events usually bring. My wife and I walk in the door and we are literally the only people there. The Shag merch was in the very back and not even presented very well. I was certainly expecting more items for sale, but most of the prints were in drawers, so the viewable items were some original paintings and some mugs. I did buy a print I've wanted for a long time (Palm Springs Weekend) for a good price ($400), but I think the originals were overpriced. I was sad to see one of my favorite paintings (departure, stopover, arrival) was in poor condition with a badly chipped frame and very dusty (hey, they were only asking 60K). By the time we left maybe 10 to 12 people had shown up, just not what I was expecting at all. I took a few minutes to look at the galleries current exhibit and it was complete crap. I have a feeling they will miss the strong sales Shag always delivered.
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The Monitors
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 08, 2003
Posts: 254
From: The ILL streets of Santa Clarita, CA
| Posted: 2009-09-28 8:52 pm Permalink
Wow....that's sad to hear Tiki-Riviera. The triptych is one of my all time favorites too. It's sad to hear the the previous owner didn't take care of it. I know it's only superficial damage (ie: frame), but if I had the opportunity to own it, I would like it in the original frame. It's beginning to sound like a bitter break-up, but Josh has seem to moved on.
Godspeed indeed Mr. Agle. I'm pretty sure you'll deliver.
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The Monitors
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