The Flesh is Willing Exhibition

The Flesh is Willing exhibition ran on the upper level of the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, California from October 28^th 2007 to January 27^th 2008. This solo exhibition of Josh Agle’s work included twelve original paintings, three arcade machines, and one huge triptych.

Josh Agle’s inspiration for this show was a trip to the Prado Museum in Madrid where Shag saw the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel. The centerpiece of the Flesh is Willing exhibition is an enormous triptych called The Garden of Earthly Delights, the same name as Hieronymus Bosch’s famous triptych. Shag’s impressive eighteen foot long by five foot tall triptych depicts Paradise, Earth, and Hell through the eyes of modern consumer-driven culture.

The Flesh is Willing exhibition included eight acrylic paint-on-canvas nudes. Each nude was also available as archival digital print measuring 40″ by 40″ and hand-signed and numbered in a very limited edition of five.

There were also four other original Shag paintings: Ursula Major, Beetle Jack, Ursula Minor and Flight of the Fish.

A Flesh is Willing series of serigraph prints was released at the show, these were Woman with Raven, Woman with Fish, Woman with Owl, Woman with Wasp, Woman with Beetle, and Woman with Flying Fish. Each of the seven-color embossed serigraph prints measures 14″ by 14″ and is in a limited edition of 150 pieces plus 20 artist proofs.

Shag also created three interactive works from vintage fairground arcade games where attendees could play and determine in advance what their fate would be. I have covered these in detail in the Fatal Attraction post but to summarise, the first piece is the Wheel of Ultimate Fate, the second Zulo Knows All!, and the third Vice Tester. Note that the Wheel of Ultimate Fate (also known as the Wheel of Fortune) was created at the 2005 Push Your Luck exhibition at the OX-OP Gallery in Minneapolis in Minnesota.

Four coaster sets were released at the Flesh is Willing exhibition; one set for Paradise, another for Earth, the third for Hell and the last of the nudes. Each set of four coasters have cork backings and are supplied with a cherry-colored wooden holder.

Two t-shirts were released at the Flesh is Willing exhibition, each supplied in a screw top illustrated tin.
And to end, a few more shots of the exhibition.

I assume the 2007 acrylic-on-panel painting The Messengers (30″ by 24″) is also from this show, but I cannot find any photos that include it – please let me know.

Seen Again?
Emasculated Bull in November 2023 – auctioned by John Moran Auctioneers for $3,000. Note that I cannot find this painting in the auction but the provenance is the Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA and was painted in 2007. Please let me know if you have a photo from the exhibition showing this painting or have more knowledge of the source: