Female in Profile 

Patrick Nagel made this ‘Female in Profile’ using airbrush, a technique more often associated with commercial illustration than fine art. The sleek application of paint gives the image its distinctive appearance, with carefully delineated shapes and subtle gradations of tone. The airbrush allowed Nagel to achieve a high level of finish. It also speaks to a particular moment in graphic design, influenced by the clean lines of Japanese prints. The result is an aesthetic that embodies the elegance of the 1980s. Nagel's process, while requiring skill, also reflects the era’s fascination with mass production and consumption. His images, often seen in magazines and on album covers, became widely recognizable, reflecting a society where art and commerce increasingly intertwined. This piece blurs the lines between handcraft and industrial production, inviting us to reconsider how we value different forms of making.