Ron Nagle was born in San Francisco in 1939 and he was introduced to ceramics by his mother at an early age. Ron grew up in California in the Mission District. Nagle practiced ceramics in high school and developed an interest in jewelry-making which he pursued into his college years. Nagle enrolled as an English major at San Francisco State College, but later switched to the school's Art program and graduated with a focus in ceramics in 1961. Ron Nagle had his first solo exhibit at the Dilexi Gallery in the late 1960s. Ron Nagle’s sculptural work is colorful, iconic, and layered with immense texture, intensity and detail.
Nagle has taught ceramics at San Francisco Art Institute, California College of Arts and Crafts, as well as at the University of California Berkeley, where he apprenticed to Peter Voulkos, a core member of the Abstract Expressionist Ceramics. Nagle’s work is associated with the California Clay Movement, and Nagle is often included in exhibitions concerning Abstract Expressionism. Although Nagle has shied away from association with the traditional craft of ceramics, Nagle has noted the influence of his contemporary sculptors working in the medium, such as Kenneth Price, as well as such vernaculars as Japanese Momoyama ceramics, Giorgio Morandi,, Phillip Guston and even 1940s American restaurant ware. Nagle’s style is unique, mining uncanny sources such as cartoons, graffiti, food arrangement, music and fashion for inspiration in his work. Nagle taught ceramics at Mills College for over 30 years and is also an avid musician and songwriter. Ron Nagle’s colorful works are exhibited by many important art museums, including: Metropolitan Museum, Tate Modern, Carnegie Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, Smithsonian, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Shigaraki Museum.