NC 10 11th Street Gallery Exhibition Serigraph 1986

This serigraph by Patrick Nagel advertises an exhibition at the 11th Street Gallery in Santa Monica. The image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. Nagel's style borrows from Art Deco and Japanese prints, combining them into something that speaks to the 1980s Southern California art scene. The cool detachment of the woman, along with her geometric features and bold makeup, presents a specific vision of feminine identity. But consider also the institutional histories at play: the 11th Street Gallery, where this was exhibited, and the wider social networks that supported it. Did this piece critique the institutions of art? Was it self-consciously conservative or progressive? These are the kinds of questions art historians ask. To understand this print fully, we might look to archives of art criticism, gallery ephemera, or even fashion magazines from the period. Art always exists within a complex web of social and institutional relations.