Taking a Bite from Former Student Ron Nagle's Psychedelic Confections

FRIEZE (LONDON) -- Though he only met stratospheric art world success on the heels of his 2013 presentation at the 55th Venice Biennale (he joined Matthew Marks Gallery soon after), Nagle’s been doing his own thing for decades. Born in 1939, he started making ceramics in high school because his mother had a kiln in the basement out of which she’d churn Santa mugs with china glazes. In the ’50s — he’s 81 now — he made jewelery, enrolling as an English major at San Francisco State College before transferring to a Bachelor of Fine Arts program and graduating with a focus in ceramics in 1961.