Sandra C. Haynes Podcast #11 Andrés Nagel The Motive and the Why (1992) Artist-in-Residence Fine Art Collection Shatford Library and Boone Sculpture Garden Pasadena City College July 2008 On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 22, 1992, Spanish born artist Andrés Nagel, our sixth Artist-in-Residence, spoke about his work to my History of Modern Art class. That evening, in one of those ironies of life, parts of south central Los Angeles were consumed with riots and mayhem directed toward individuals and property. The Los Angeles Riots, also known as the Rodney King Riots, resulted when a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of black motorist, Rodney King. The next day, I asked Andrés about his reaction to this violence in L.A., that would continue for some six days with over 50 people dying. He replied, calmly and softly, that in fact he was not a stranger to violence, that as a Spaniard from the Basque region of Spain, he had come to know violence. I assumed that the violence Andrés referred to was related to the terrorist/national liberation activities of the ETA, a Basque separatist group. Using assassinations and bombings as a tool, the ETA has been demanding autonomy from Spain for over forty years. The Basque region of Spain is also directly associated, in the modern period, with the 1937 cubist painting by Pablo Picasso called Guernica. Guernica depicts Picasso's reaction to the aerial bombardment that led to the violent destruction of the town of Guernica in the Basque region, during the Spanish Civil War. I repeat the story about the L.A. riots and reference the history of violence in northern Spain, to try to bring into focus the relief sculpture, conceived by Andrés Nagel. The Motive and the Why (1992) hangs in the Shatford Library on the wall outside the student computer lab called the "Research Zone." Nagel's work of art resonates with violent overtones, as we shall see. It is mixed media–– polyester resin and oil on fiberglass and sheet metal. Nagel created the work in our sculpture studio on campus. Andrés Nagel was born in 1947 in San Sebastian, Spain, where he still has a home. He trained as an architect, earning his degree in 1972 from the University of Navarre, Pamplona. Although he is proficient in many media, Nagel is foremost a sculptor who initially exhibited sculpture of fiberglass and polyester resin in 1968. The origins of Nagel's artistic forms are based in the influence of pop art, neo-expressionism and the Spanish tradition of realism. Nagel chooses mundane subjects like the human body, cows, and furniture, which he then transforms into edgy symbols of contemporary life. These symbols are often manifested with both a literal narrative and an abstract, surrealistic approach. The Motive and the Why shows part of a life-size, sheet metal leg and foot bent and twisted into shape. Well, not exactly a leg and a foot, since it looks more like a tight-fitting metal boot or silver-colored fragment of medieval armor. It is a right leg and foot, with no delineated toes, but with a distinct arch that faces the viewer. The ankle and calf strain forward as if the upper leg to which the calf and foot were attached has been severed. From the opening at the top of the calf, an explosion of fiberglass seems to splinter away to the upper left corner. Some black oil paint has been splashed over the sharp splinters of fiberglass, making the surface look as though there had been a fire. Small rivets and soldered and annealed areas of discoloration and patching are evidence of the manipulation of the metal. The foot seems propelled from an oval base of sheet metal, with jagged edges, like flames, along one segment. The oval-shaped, metal base has been "sliced and diced," and serves as a springboard for the foot and leg. Nagel used large shears to cut the sheet metal, as if he were cutting paper. (Kritselis, Personal Interview) In turn, the metal base is riveted to a layer of fiberglass that serves as the neutral-colored background of the wall relief. The polyester resin, which he has applied to the fiberglass, has been worked into a crusty wave of brush-like strokes that accent the curved shape of the leg. A delicate curlicue in the resin, about six inches long with a straight line passing through most of it, can be seen on the right side of the background. It adds to the sense of scattered movement and sequential, violent action that Nagel has imbued into this unsettling work. Beginning in the 1980s, Nagel adopted imagery of shoes and feet as a primary artistic focus. (Lucie-Smith 185) In 1988, he created a small-scale sculpture called Lead Feet (1988), a pair of feet, rather brightly painted with abstract forms, rendered to just above the ankle, no delineated toes, and resting on a mound. The material is not lead, although it is painted to look like lead. These feet were meant to be a sort of literal interpretation of the idiomatic expression that refers to something heavy, unliftable, and therefore burdensome. (Kuspit, 9) These are perhaps Nagel's feet, planted in the soil of the Basque country of northern Spain, where he first experienced the reality of violence. Donald Kuspit has written that, "Violence is a key strategy of Nagel: his images fragment, their surface is broken into parts that hang together but do not quite cohere. Disjunction is a constant…." (Kuspit 11) One final observation about this extraordinary work by Andrés Nagel. The title. What about deriving any further meaning from the title? It has been said that Nagel's titles "rarely have anything to do with the subject matter." (Tasende, J.M. 1990) However, there are narrative implications in this title. A "motive" is the stimulus or impetus to action while the "why" explains the reaction to the stimulus. With this abstruse title, Nagel is telling us to derive and interpret any additional meaning from the work. References: Knaub, Donald E and Kuspit, Donald. Andrés Nagel: An Irreverent Approach. exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, Santa Ana. August 8-October 28, 1990. Kritselis, Alexander. Personal Interview. 1 July, 2008. Lasarow, Bill. "Andres Nagel. " ArtScene: The Guide to Art Galleries and Museums in Southern California. 1997 . Lucie-Smith, Edward. Andrés Nagel . New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 1992. Nagel, Andrés. An Exhibition of 14 Maquetttes. exh.cat., Collezione DOBE Monte Bre. August 2 – September 1, 1991, introduction by Christian K. Laine. Nagel, Andrés. Andrés Nagel Official Web Site Ollman, Leah. "Artist Splinters Space and Time Sculpture: Young Basque's wall pieces range from whimsical to fearful." Los Angeles Times 29 July, 1992, San Diego County Edition. Tasende, J.M. Andrés Nagel. exh. cat., Tasende Gallery, La Jolla, March 10-April 22, 1990. Haynes©2008