Ron Nagle has made stunning, entirely unique small sculptures since the 1960s, producing a body of work that is as original as it is mischievous. He mixes allusions to modernism, middlebrow culture, and the specific pop sensibility of Northern California in exquisitely formed works that are often no bigger than a few inches. This exhibition marks his first survey in the Bay Area in over twenty-five years and features twenty ceramic sculptures on custom pedestals designed by the artist and 15 drawings, mostly ink on paper, from the past two decades of Nagle’s career. The exhibition selection is augmented by more than 100 images of his work presented in the catalogue along with scholarly essays. Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter is an important exhibition for an artist whose exquisite work deserves to be better known.
Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter
“I’ll endorse with my name any of the following: clothing, AC-DC, cigarettes, small tapes, sound equipment, ROCK ‘N ROLL RECORDS, anything, film, and film equipment, Food, Helium, Whips, MONEY!! love and kisses ANDY WARHOL.”
Village Voice Classified, 1966.