Shagadelic! The Midcentury Fantasies Of Josh Agle

The artist Josh Agle — better known as Shag, for the four letters connecting his first and last name — first gained a following in the ’90s when a lot of other retro things were being rediscovered, such as lounge and swing music, the cult of tiki, and vintage cocktails.

Agle’s work is classified in art ciricles as “lowbrow,” meaning that he’s a figurative artist playing with themes and motifs from the pop culture past. There’s wit in his work that will often have you laughing out loud, as I do whenever I see this painting of a tribal hunter in a swank nightclub who decides, for no particular reason, to assasinate a band member with a blow dart.

I met Shag years ago in LA and he’s a great fellow. Here are some of his swingin’ apartments brimming with midcentury motifs: