New SHAG-book:

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Relese Date: August 11th, 2005
Price: $ 40 (Amazon Discount Price $ 26,40)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/081185096X/qid=1117435662/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/002-0689781-1247217

Shag
The Art of Josh Agle
Foreword by Billy Shire
Essay by Colin Berry

11-3/4 x 9-3/4 in; 224 pp ; 186 color illustrations
Hardcover
ISBN 081185096X

Chronicle Books:

"This is the first major monograph of one of today's most popular and widely regarded artists, Josh Agle—more commonly known as Shag. His trademark style is spotted on everything from cocktail napkins and cigarette lighters to his brand identity work for the new Pink Panther film. But Shag is the first opportunity to appreciate the mastery of expression in this artist's primary output—his paintings. Gathered together here are nearly 200 wry and colorful scenes of signature retro decadence. Wasp-waisted women in Capri pants and turtlenecked, eye-patched men of mystery host parties where deathly specters cavort with cranky wolves, regal bulls, and blasé Adams and Eves sipping martinis. A Shag painting often takes place in the middle of a story whose conclusion could be hilarious, catastrophic, or both, creating a world of endless hinted narratives. Lowbrow gallerist Billy Shire and art critic Colin Berry offer keen essays that situate Shag in the artistic and cultural setting that has spurred him beyond the more predictable work of his contemporaries—creating a book that is simultaneously a fantasy playground of crisp lines and sharp colors, and a serious look at one of our most up-and-coming painters.

Josh Agle, better known as Shag (a contraction of the last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last), has had successful solo exhibitions in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia. He lives and paints in a mid-century modern home in the hills above L.A.

Billy Shire is the founder and proprietor of La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, and so dubbed "the Peggy Guggenheim of Lowbrow" by JUXTAPOZ magazine.

Colin Berry's art and culture criticism has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Time Out, Print, Surface, Entertainment Weekly, and other publications. He lives in Northern California."

http://www.hasenkamm.de

[ Edited by: Thorsten Hasenkamm on 2005-05-29 23:54 ]

Yay! Can't wait till October!
:)

Why has this thread been moved to BEYOND TIKI now? I think SHAG is not that BEYOND TIKI... :)

On 2005-05-30 04:10, Thorsten Hasenkamm wrote:
Why has this thread been moved to BEYOND TIKI now? I think SHAG is not that BEYOND TIKI... :)

Shag is definitely a great tiki artist, and I'm sure that his tiki pieces are inside this book. Howevah! His art is full of all kinds of styles, and this thread (thus far) appears to be about Shag's art, not about tiki. That means we're talking about something that's beyond tiki -- Beyond Tiki is for just this sort of thing, things that a huge number of us are all into because it's tangentially connected to tiki, but isn't an actual discussion of Polynesian Pop itself.

If the discussion starts to be directly about tiki (i.e., Shag's specific tiki pieces, rather than just Shag generally) and we get U-Mods to move it again (see the little drop-down at the bottom left of the page), we can move it back.

OK, got it! :wink:

hah that explains why it disappeared mid response and I had to search for it to finish the reply.

On 2005-05-30 12:10, Humuhumu wrote:

Shag is definitely a great tiki artist, and I'm sure that his tiki pieces are inside this book. Howevah! His art is full of all kinds of styles, and this thread (thus far) appears to be about Shag's art, not about tiki.

"Tiki Central - Tiki bars, tiki mugs, tropical drinks, Shag!" - The tagline of the old Tiki Central site on Yahoo. And surely the book is chock full of Tiki? If this level of strictness is applied to all posts, 90% of them would end up in beyond Tiki. It seems an odd one to move...

Trader Woody

Hmmmm. Big Lots Tiki mask? Shag Book? Hmmm. Get off the Crack People!!! Jesus Christ!! 90% of you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for SHAG ART!

True!

I think it belongs in Creating Tiki more than Beyond if it has to be moved at all. Regardless where you put it, I preordered 2 copies. :wink:

RevBambooBen wrote,

Get off the Crack People!!! Jesus Christ!! 90% of you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for SHAG ART!

I feel like I'm part of an elite minority now (the other 10%). I wound up here because of such things as Hawaii Five-0 in the '70s, and Hawaiian and Exotica records in thrift stores pretty much ever since. With no disrespect to the visual artist whose commercial success I highly respect, "Shag" will always evoke for me 1) the carpet in my room when I was a kid, then 2) Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, then 3) the artist with a new book coming out whom I had never heard of until a month or two ago, in that order.

By the way, I have no opinion on where this thread belongs.

Now, let's see, where'd I put my crack pipe?!...

On 2005-06-02 13:33, tropicalguy wrote:
"Shag" will always evoke for me 1) the carpet in my room when I was a kid, then 2) Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, then 3) the artist with a new book coming out

And being English, my first definition of Shag:
"shag5 (shãg)

v. Chiefly British Vulgar Slang., shagged, shag·ging, shags.

v.tr.
To engage in sexual intercourse with.

v.intr.
To engage in sexual intercourse."

So please don't ask me about my first Shag until I've had a couple of drinks.

Trader Woody

And, lest we forget, "shag" can also refer to:
-- a form of dance and music (a.k.a. "beach music") associated with '50s and '60s beach culture in the southeastern U.S. (e.g., see http://www.beachshag.com ).

All together, I think Mr. Agle has hit the ball out of the park with his choice of name.

[ Edited by: Thomas 2005-09-02 04:45 ]

Sir, "Guy," I'm not here often, but you are really making an ass of yourself. With all due respect, please do some research if SHAG is new to you in order to make some more educated responses.

I think the thread had taken a few twists and turns and my rather lighthearted thoughts, while maybe not the most rivetting reading of the past century I would concede, were not out of line, and didn't really make an "ass" out of me at all. We come to this (tiki) world from many different angles and with different emphases. Mine tend to be musical, though I am eagerly receptive to it all. I wasn't commenting on Shag's art work at all, in fact, and the thread had pretty much ceased to be focused on that. I would like to suggest you loosen up a bit, "with all due respect." The discussion had, for but a few posts, moved to one of the slang word, "Shag," and its various meanings and uses, some of which vary geographically. The artist's choice of this name can be assumed to have been purposeful; a brief discussion of it hardly seems out of line.

I would recognize that the thread did start out as being about a book, and then got off on other subjects. I contributed to that process, which might have been a disappointment to the originators of the thread. There is a good etiquette lesson for me there perhaps.

Otherwise, thanks for your thoughts, but I disagree with your approach.

Yeah, I think you're being a little harsh, PoisonIvy. Tropicalguy had stated very early on that he was very new to Shag and was just making some lighthearted comments. I'm not new to Shag at all, know much of his work like the back of my hand and even chatted to him over cocktails, and was also just making some lighthearted comments.

The purpose of the original post was just to alert everyone to the fact that Shag's got a new book out, which is essentially news. As such, subsequent posts can either strictly adhere to this news in form of reaction such as "Great, I've just put in an order", (which is worthy but a little dull) or meander into something else (which this has done).

Anyway, the baton is there if anyone wants to grab this topic and bring it back to the fact that Shag has a mammoth new book coming out (filled with Tiki!)

Trader Woody

Trader Woody wrote:

...if anyone wants to grab this topic and bring it back to the fact that Shag has a mammoth new book coming out (filled with Tiki!)

Hear hear! Let me be the one. I just pre-ordered it. I suspect this thread might go a bit quiet for a spell then perk up again when the book comes out. I look forward to the discussions of it to come.

My thoughts are, anything SHAG should stay where they are. He's a mainstay in the new tiki generation. He even did some prints for this site right? beyond tiki?? I'm soooooooooooo confused!!

On the other hand, I heard that Sears has a new tiki tool. Go figure!

If a TC member feels this topic should be in a different forum, please feel free to use the U-Moderate controls at the bottom of the page. That's what it's there for ....