SHAG (Josh Agle)
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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 the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
, better known by the nickname Shag.


Early life and education

Josh Agle was born August 31, 1962, the first of nine children in
Sierra Madre, California Sierra Madre (Spanish language, Spanish for "mother range") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, with a population of 11,268 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley below the southern ...
. He spent his early childhood in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, and later moved with his family to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. While Agle was attending high school, his family moved to
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. In the mid-1980s, he returned to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, to study economics and architecture at
California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...
.


Career

While at CSULB, Agle 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 founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'', ''
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'' and ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
''. 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 La Luz de Jesus Gallery is a art museum, commercial art gallery located in Los Angeles, California. It is closely associated with the Lowbrow (art movement), Lowbrow Art Movement, Kustom Kulture, and pop surrealism. It is located on the top floo ...
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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
gallery show in 2002. In 2010, he opened a "SHAG Store" in
Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
, which sells merchandise depicting Agle's works. A second Shag Store was opened in Hollywood in October 2015 (closed in 2020) and a Shag store has since opened in Las Vegas in early 2022, in the Palms Casino Resort. He is also known for designing Tiki mugs. Shag has designed projects for
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
and the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
, as well as a 100-foot-long mural in the
Georgia Aquarium Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The aquarium exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than of water. It was the larges ...
.


Personal life

Josh Agle lives with his wife and their two children in
Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...
.*, which describes a visit to their home


Selected books

* * * * * * * * * *


Museum exhibitions and collections

* 2010 - Art Shack,
Laguna Art Museum The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been kno ...
, 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 The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been kno ...
, Laguna Beach, California * 2007 - The Flesh Is Willing: New Work by Shag,
Laguna Art Museum The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been kno ...
, 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 (ACCH) is an art gallery and culture in Hollywood, Florida. Its permanent collection includes artwork from: * Pablo Picasso * Georgia O’Keeffe * David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an En ...
, Hollywood, Florida


See also

*
Lowbrow (art movement) Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, is an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. It is a populist art movement with its cultural roots in underground comix, punk music, tiki culture, graffiti, and ...


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