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Photo: Don Tuttle
Tetrogene
Photo: Don Tuttle

Tetrogene

Date2008
Label TextSince the 1960s, Ron Nagle has created imaginative ceramic objects that draw inspiration from painter Giorgio Morandi, traditional Japanese ceramics, and Hot Rod culture. As a student at U.C. Berkley, Nagle studied under ceramicist Peter Voulkos, who encouraged experimentation and was a seminal figure in the contemporary ceramic movement on the West Coast. Another influence was Ken Price, whose deconstructed cup is also on view. Nagle’s abstract sculptures not only reveal the stylistic discoveries he has made throughout his career, but show an endless fascination with glazing techniques—including overlaying pigments with an airbrush—allowing him to achieve visual complexity and depth in his multifaceted surfaces. Tetrogene vividly conveys Nagle’s expressionistic style, an approach that has become his signature and has put him at the forefront of ceramic artists working today.
Object number2011.11
ProvenanceThe artist to Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA; James Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington, 2011
Photo CreditPhoto: Don Tuttle
Exhibition HistorySan Francisco, California, Rena Bransten Gallery, Duo Mysto: Don Ed Hardy and Ron Nagle, December 4, 2008 - January 10, 2009; Seattle, Washington, James Harris Gallery, Ron Nagle, January 7, 2010 - February 20, 2010 Seattle, Washington, Wright Exhibition Space, Bing’s Choice, October 14, 2010 - April 2, 2011
Credit LinePurchased with funds from Virginia and Bagley Wright
Dimensions2 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. (7 x 13.3 x 8.3 cm)
MediumEarthenware with over glazes
Photo: Scott Leen
1974
Object number: 2010.37.21
Dog
Chinese
Object number: 33.30
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.4
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.5
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.9
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.8
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.10
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.11
Chinese
8th century
Object number: 2010.37.15