Paradise Rediscovered

Art Business News, June, 2001 by Laura Meyers

The Polynesian craze of mid-century America has made a comeback in fashion, collectibles, interior decor and art. But this time, there's a new, ironic twist.

The siren call of Bali Hai summons again, and the tattooed chieftain of a South Seas civilization once more serves as artistic muse. Tiki rules! In Southern California especially, and in an increasing number of other urban centers across the country, there's a growing fan club for both vintage Polynesian Americana--the kitsch collectible of the post-war generation--and a contemporary art genre featuring tiki motifs that some are calling "post-Polynesian pop."

Just ask Dave Peil, co-owner of Grumpy's City Room, a downtown Minneapolis art gallery/club/eatery. In mid-April, pale Midwesterners wearing Hawaiian shirts crowded into Peil's gallery for "Inside the Volcano" an exhibit of the artist Shag's new works.

"We wanted to bring something new and fresh to Minneapolis" said Peri. "Because we are in the Midwest, there's something exotic and unique about Polynesian pop. We couldn't keep up with sales, and we've already scheduled another Shag show for next year."

Los Angeles art dealer Merry Karnowski has also hosted exhibits of works of post-Polynesian pop, which fit in well with her larger emphasis on art that reflects West Coast surf and car cultures. She's noticed a growing popularity of art with tiki references.

"A lot of this work is ironic and intentionally kitschy," said Kamowski. "But then there are many artists who actually identify with the period when their family vacationed to Hawaii."

Made half a century ago, much of the Polynesian Americana reflects a romantic, innocent sensibility. Sure, it was an inauthentic representation of South Pacific life--one part George Jetson modern, one part exuberance and one part exotic whimsy.

Today's tiki art, in contrast, is more self-aware, cynical and ironic. Works by artists like The Pizz, Shag, Mark Ryden, Von Franko, Bosko and Anthony Ausgang are often cartoonish and witty, with commentary on popular culture. And sometimes, like their vintage forebearers, the artworks are just fun. Consider a print by The Pizz, "The Tiki Bar" which depicts tiki bartenders wearing Hawaiian shirts. Added Los Angeles artist Ausgang: "I try to express the human condition in cartoon characters that I anthropomorphize--and sometimes that means animating a tiki."

Post-Polynesian Pop

"The tiki has had a definite resurgence," noted Doug Nason, co-owner of Copro-Nason Gallery in Culver City, Calif., and a publisher of fine art prints and limited editions by artists Shag, The Pizz and Von Franco.

"People are interested in retro lifestyles, and the whole lounge culture thing. A lot of today's tiki art came out of hot-rod designs, but the icon of the tiki symbolizes the whole 20th century," he said.

Nason recently curated a tiki art show at the Hollywood, Fla., Art Center that generated broad interest. "The young people liked it, but the old retirees liked it too," he said.

And art dealers in large urban centers across the country, like Peil in Minneapolis, are beginning to experiment with post-Polynesian pop, though Southern California is the hotbed. Among galleries showcasing this genre are: The Key Club and La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Hollywood; the Merry Kamowsky Gallery in Los Angeles; Huntington Beach Art Center in Huntington Beach, Calif.; Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York; Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco--and, internationally, Toon-In Gallery in Melbourne, Australia, and Random in Tokyo.

Nason said he has been particularly successful with the artist Shag. "His style is so retro and clean. The phone is ringing off the hook with reservations for Shag paintings."

Just a few years ago, Shag sold his paintings for $300 to $400. "Now his paintings go for $4,000," said Nason, though prints can still be found for less than $100.

Although much of Shags work doesn't contain tikis or references to Polynesian pop, Shag, whose birth name is Josh Agle, commented, "To a lot of people, my work does a really good job of capturing the sort of lounge-bachelor-tiki lifestyle. Tiki represents that sort of late `50s, early `60s searching by suburban Americans for something exotic to transport them away from their bedroom communities to another, more exotic place."

Shag, who has a collection of 300 tiki mugs in his living room and a tiki mask hanging above his fireplace, believes post-Polynesian pop is a growing phenomenon. "The art is definitely ironic and a little tongue-in-cheek," he said. "People look at it and know it's not a true depiction of life in Polynesia."

A Historical Perspective

Americans and Europeans have been allured by paradise and the desire to forsake Western civilization ever since the South Sea voyages of Cook and Bougainville two centuries ago. Artist Paul Gauguin left the security of his Victorian bourgeois life (and his wife) and traveled to Tahiti. Though the island turned out to be more decayed than idyllic, his paintings from the South Seas nonetheless depict a romanticized paradise. Gauguin was the first well-known "beachcomber" a Westerner who leaves society (and societal mores) behind and "goes native." A later generation of Modern artists like Picasso, Miro and Klee were inspired by the primitivism and "savage" aesthetic of African and Oceanic masks. "Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing. Taste is the enemy of creativeness," said Picasso, who acquired his first Marquesan tiki in 1910 and later filled his art studio with tikis and other primitive carvings.