NYAB Event - Aaron Nagel “Fathoms”

Aaron Nagel “Fathoms”

Lyons Wier Gallery

This event has ended.

“I happened upon Aaron Nagel’s artwork while surfing the art-world blogosphere a few years back. His images had all the makings of a great painting—wonderfully composed, impeccably painted, and slightly ominous. The work was swiftly etched in my brain and I had to find who this painter was. Through due diligence, I learned that Nagel is an accomplished musician, graphic designer and self-taught artist. Being self-taught added extra intrigue for me, as his painting prowess is simply astonishing. I continued to watch Nagel’s artistic growth and eventually added one of his pieces to our personal collection. Living with the work allowed me to truly understand that Nagel’s painting ability shares equal footing with his graphic design interest and skills, and that the work somehow has its own distinct yet indescribable timbre.

“Fathoms” evidences Nagel’s enduring admiration for classical oil painting both in technique and composition. This exhibition builds upon his last body of work by advancing his understanding and use of light and shadow. Working with live models and photography, Nagel seemingly sculpts the figure with brushwork and shadow play. His renderings recall a litany of historical and contemporary painters that work with the female nude. However Nagel transcends many of his contemporaries and comparisons in the way he encapsulates the spirit of his models with a blend of self-confidence, inner-peace and personal strength. There is a palpable sense of assuredness whereby one is immediately captivated by the conceptual context of the subjects’ body language and eye contact (or lack of).

Another engaging element in Nagel’s work is his use of typography as a compositional and aesthetic element. “The Accomplice Abettor MMXIV,” (seen above) is not only the name of the painting but also a formal element that clearly pays homage to historical artwork as well as to the artist’s skill in graphic design. I applaud these efforts as I have always contended that if the title of the piece is an integral part of the work, it should be a part its composition.” - Michael Lyons Wier

Born in 1980 in San Francisco, CA, Aaron Nagel began drawing as a child and gradually made his way to painting. Upon discovering oils in his early twenties, he became enamored with the medium and has been obsessed with it ever since. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland (OR), Philadelphia, Tampa, Miami, and New York and has shown at international art fairs such as Art Miami and Scope Art Fair. Nagel was a Semi-Finalist for the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (2009) at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. Aaron Nagel lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. This is his second solo show with Lyons Wier Gallery.

[Image: Aaron Nagel “Surface” (2014) Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in.]