Shooting Gallery Presents:

A Thin Line

Shooting Gallery is pleased to present A Thin Line, a series of stunning new figurative works by Bay Area artist Aaron Nagel. This will be Nagel’s second solo exhibition with Shooting Gallery, and he has been working on significantly expanding his repertoire since his previous solo project Marks, just last year. The opening reception will be Saturday, June 11, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through July 2.

A self-taught artist, Nagel exhibits an earnest admiration for classical oil painting techniques and traditions, and employs them to create lush, vivid renderings of the female form. Often in unconventional positions, the figures are frequently juxtaposed against carefully hand-lettered type, marked with glossy black paint, or encircled with halos of line and light. There has been some discussion over the religious aspect of Nagel’s work, but he insists that he uses the female nude in his works – not only as a counterpoint, but as a supplement to the idea of the divine. The figures are strong, seductive and curious – an elegant mirror of the medium itself, and a fantastic display of Nagel’s mastery within it.

Nagel’s most recent body of work expands upon the larger, more narrative works he is known for, and incorporates a new foray into smaller portrait-style works. A Thin Line alludes to both a new graphic element in many of the pieces, and the internal struggle he experienced while creating the series: finding himself torn between two seemingly disparate artistic directions.

Born 1980 in San Francisco, California, 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 ever since.  Although he has had no formal training, he continues to relentlessly pursue a mastery of figurative surrealism from his home in Oakland, CA.

Nagels’ work explores the potential to create a new sort of iconography for the non-believer, with subtle commentary on the trappings of organized religion and theism.

Media Opportunities:

Interview with artist Aaron Nagel

Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla

High-resolution images available upon request

Event Information:

“A Thin Line,” New Works by Aaron Nagel

Opening Reception – June 11, 2024, 7-11 pm

On View Through July 2, 2024,

@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)

839 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA