Ron Nagle

Ron Nagle is an American ceramic sculptor who was born in San Francisco, California in 1939, and grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District. He graduated from San Francisco State College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1961.

Between 1961 and 1978, he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California at Berkeley, and the California College of Arts and Crafts before becoming a professor of art at Mills College. Nagle is considered part of the Abstract Expressionist Ceramics group that developed around Peter Voulkos. Ken Price and Michael Frimkess were major influences in his early career. Having seen an exhibition of paintings by Giorgio Morandi, Nagle decided to focus on making cups, and has worked almost exclusively on variations of cups, often pushing the form to the point of abstraction. Nagle lives and works in San Francisco, California.

Nagle also was a musician and singer, performing in the band The Mystery Trend in San Francisco from 1965 - 1968. In 1970 he issued a solo album on Warner Bros. Records called Bad Rice, most of which was produced by Jack Nitzsche. Nagle plays keyboards and sings. He wrote or co-wrote all of the songs. Ry Cooder plays guitar on two of the tracks. The album received some favorable reviews.

References

* McTwigan, Michael, "Ron Nagle, A Survey Exhibition 1958-1993", Oakland, CA, Mills College Art Gallery, 1993.