The Work of Patrick Nagel

Patrick Nagel embodies the look of 1980's America. It's hard not to look of his images and not envision the times of Miami Vice and leg-warmers. His pin-ups were super glamazons, ready to devour you, full of power and not afraid to face the Gordon Gekko-Wall Street years.
Nagel first put his talents to work as a freelance artist in 1971 and by 1976 hebegan contributing regularly to Playboy, which extended the exposure and popularity of "the Nagel Woman" to a huge and loyal audience. In 1978, he created his first poster image for Mirage Editions. He also painted the cover of rock group Duran Duran's Rio album, which became the number one album in the world. The feeling of Nagel's work is reminiscent of Japanese woodblock prints as well as of Art Deco styling, yet it is completely contemporary and universal in appeal. Starting from a photograph, he would create a simplified drawing, the translate the drawing to a painting. Bold, dark lines shape perspective out of flat, cool colours and stark white spaces; the result is what some have described as "fantasy realism." Patrick Nagel died of a heart attack in 1984 at the age of 38.