Josh "Shag" Agle is arguably the world's hippest artist right now. His "60's styled" artwork, once a cult favourite, is now sought after worldwide (with a sizeable following amongst the rich & famous).
When I first saw your pictures, they reminded me of 60s sitcoms, old travel ads, classic early 60's flicks and cocktails...but all with a sinister edge. How would you describe your paintings to someone who isn't familiar with them?
"The paintings are based on stylized commercial advertising from the mid 50's through the mid-sixties. Back then, a lot of magazine ads, TV commercials, and product packaging had sort of cubist-cartoonish look, which I've appropriated and expanded upon for these Shag paintings. I almost always try to paint a story...something that's happening, often sinister, and usually a bit mysterious."
Why the animals? Wolves & apes seem to appear quite regularly!
"I started using animals as a way to tell people that I wasn't painting the "real" world...I didn't want people to look at the work and think it was a depiction of actual life. Many of the animals represent personality types: the wolf is a "suave womanizer", and the bull represents that part of being a male which is totally subjugated by the opposite sex."
Where did it all begin? What was the first thing you sold? When did you know you could make painting your career?
"The first actual painting I sold was in 1995. I had been working as a commercial illustrator, so I was paid for my art, but I had never actually set out to sell an original piece until my longtime friend Otto Von Stroheim, who is the publisher of the "Tiki News" fanzine, asked me to contribute a painting to an art show he was setting up. I think the piece was priced at $200 & sold straightaway."
Who inspired you to paint? Are there any artists or illustrators you owe a debt to? Do you purchase the art of others?
"My Grandfather, who made a good living as a commercial illustrator, inspired me posthumously to take it up as a career. As far as artists and illustrators who've given me great inspiration, I obviously owe a debt to the pop artists of the early sixties, as well as later image/product oriented guys like Keith Haring. Robert Williams, a California painter, also inspired me to try to paint my own vision...not directly, as he's always been a complete asshole to me, but indirectly through his work. I have quite a large collection of original commercial art from the 50's & 60's, & I have a few fine art pieces. I have a Warhol Shoe illustration from the late 50's, & my other favorite is a painting by the contemporary artist Mark Ryden, whose popularity has exploded in the past five years."
Are there any celebrity "Shag" fans you are willing to name? Do you get invites to celebrity parties?
"There are celebrity collectors, but almost any fairly established artist in L.A. will have them, as the celebrities are the ones with lots of disposable income! One of my biggest collectors is Whoopi Goldberg. Ben Stiller, Seth Green, Rob Zombie, and Nancy Sinatra also own paintings.

Donna Con Bambino. New York, NY November 2006. For his first solo exhibition of new works at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Donna con Bambino, Shag invites viewers into a playful, mysterious and ironic world. Juxtaposing pithy subject matter with larger, detailed paintings, Shag magnifies viewers consciousness and experience. Through his flat-plane technique, vibrant palette, and paradoxical narratives, Shag expands his sophisticated iconography. Shag's abstracted works are the first exhibited series, marking a new direction and technique for the artist.
For Donna con Bambino, Shag depicts his stylized, seductive women posed in lavish interiors accompanied by their pets both unconcerned by the news of natural or man-made disasters airing live on their televisions. Surrounded by beautiful things, and enjoying life, these hedonistic women evoke aloofness in the face of disaster. The viewer is invited to study these blithe women and how they are reacting to, or not reacting to, the outside world.
Shag's series of detailed paintings expand on humor, irony, and theme, strengthening a visually linked narrative. By cropping each image, Shag's rich textures and saturated colors heighten a mood of apathy and indifference, simultaneously mirroring the personalities of his charismatic women. Donna con Bambino, refers not only to the relationship of woman with her pet, but the sets of paintings themselves.
Currently, Shag is working on a group of monumental paintings that will go into many of the historic modernist houses of Palm Springs. In 2007 Laguna Beach Art Museum will showcase a retrospective of his work.