Josh Agle, more commonly known as Shag, is an illustrator, painter, and designer who portrays the themes of consumerism and consumption through eye-catching images. His unexpected choices and skillful use of vivid colors grab the viewer's attention instantly.
Agle's work often captures only a snapshot of a scene, not giving many clues as to what is going on in the big picture. This encourages the viewer to create their own narratives about the piece. The nature of the paintings allow the viewer to interpret the work in an infinite number of ways as the pieces all have a certain element of intrigue and mystery about them.
His new collection Animal Kingdom explores the hedonistic lifestyle in a positive manner by accentuating the joy that is found by people in this world. Agle elaborates, “Colors have become more radiant, and the men and women in the paintings seem happier and more satisfied in their hedonistic lifestyles.” The paintings show more celebration than despair with people portrayed in their more animalistic forms, possibly suggesting that there is some sort of internal desire to act this way.
Animal Kingdom is currently showing at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibition runs until February 29th, 2012.
