RON NAGLE – ICE BREAKER
2017-02-06The sculptures, all from 2016, are presented in niches and glass vitrines designed in collaboration with the artist, their heights determined by his ideal viewing angle for each work. The lowest vitrines display sculptures with titles such as Historical Land Mind and Sandmandia, which the viewer is meant to look down upon, while the niches present several works, including Intangible Assets and Glorious Assemblage, whose branch-like forms and scroll-like bases evoke the art of bonsai. Although several sculptures employ crackle glaze and other nods to traditional pottery, the works in this exhibition are notable for the wide range of effects achieved with such contemporary materials as epoxy resin, catalyzed polyurethane, and high-gloss automotive paint mixed to the artist’s specifications and applied with an airbrush.
Nagle has referred to these works as three-dimensional paintings. Most can be read as either still lifes or miniature landscapes, and all are composed with the same formal considerations of color, texture, and proportion. Among his primary aesthetic influences, Nagle cites shibui, the Japanese notion of simplicity balanced with complexity. He has also spoken of his experiences with San Francisco’s hot-rod culture of the 1960s and the connection he feels to the art of Ken Price and Billy Al Bengston, both of whose work he first encountered at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
Opposite – Intangible Assets, 2016
Exhibition runs through to April 8th, 2017
Matthew Marks Gallery Los Angeles
1062 N. Orange Grove Ave.
Los Angeles
CA90046
