Tetrogene

2008

American, born 1939

Since 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.

Earthenware with over glazes

2 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.

Purchased with funds from Virginia and Bagley Wright

2011.11

Provenance: The artist to Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA; James Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington, 2011

Photo: Don Tuttle

Not currently on view

Resources

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

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM