Post #8771 by BC-Da-Da on Thu, Sep 19, 2002 4:35 PM

Renick,

I find nothing wrong with you askng this question. Everywhere you go, you'll find narrow-minded people who will accuse you of being jealous simply because you even fucking "dared" to ask about one of their favorite artists or heroes or whatever. (I know I'd be pissed if you said anything negative about John Severson's art, but I probably wouldn't be justified... It's your opinion and you're welcome to it.)

That said, you got a lot of feedback and I hope it helped, but ultimately, you have the right to feel however you want to about Shag.

For myself, I will say that when my September/October "Juxtapoz" magazine came in the mail, I was disappointed to see on page 12 that the Shag pen was selling for (no, not $8).... $49 for the roller pen and $55 for the fountain pen. I could care less if Shag is seling out or not (and will not make an opinion either way), I just simply can't afford to stay up with his prices.

I like Shag a lot... he wrote a great article for my magazine and his art speaks to me on a visual level that is alluring because I find the subject matter to be very subtle. It is easy for people to pass Shag off as someone who does just fun simulating paintings. That is true, on the one hand, but at the same time, he is also capturing something unique about those styles and commercial trends from the past (i.e. We can see how those syles operate when put together).

Shag is putting together some of the dynamics of those eras, not choosing to opine about what they mean, but embracing their vibrancy and allowing us to live inside of that visual world.

We all know why Tiki happened and what it stood/stands for. Shag has caught on to something that he does real well and I'm happy for him.

I'm not going to be mad at him fo what he does with his marketing, nor do I fault him for doing it. I wish I had something that sold nearly as well... maybe someday I will. At the same time, I can't afford to be a Shag collector anymore and that's kind of tough, because his stuff has been real insirational to a lot of sensatve Modernism collectors and appreciators. It's of no fault to Shag, you just can't have eveything, and for a collector, sometimes that's hard to swallow. Period.

Shag may have sold out... who knows? I don't feel the need to defend that or denouce the point. I still like his stuff. It's really good. As for Robt Willims, he's a dumb ass creap. He says things about Shag not fitting into the lowbrow world, yet every four or five issues, he feels the need to feature Shag in his magazine. That guy can't draw people to save his life and he is so utterly contradictory in the way he talks, its borders on just being boring anymore. Williams is the king of his own world... a legend in his own mind... uh, I mean time... uh...