Atascadero, CA– Double-Takes: A Survey of Paintings by Wes Christensen, a display of more than 12 narrative works, will be shown at the Gala Center, The Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast, from January 7 to March 10, 2012. Double-Takes was organized by the Central California Museum of Art through Gordon Fuglie, Director and Head of Curatorial Affairs, who selected the exhibition. Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, provided assistance in the organization of the project.

Southern California artist Wes Christensen was recognized in 2011 with a career survey of his work at the Santa Monica College’s Susan Barrett Art Gallery. Double-Takes is his first exhibition in San Luis Obispo County and the Central Coast. Active in the Southern California art scene since 1983, Christensen is known for his intimate, psychologically intense narrative paintings that he produces with watercolor and colored pencil. The content of his figurative compositions is often informed by his meditations on literature and art history.

Tightly composed and rendered, as well as showing a classicizing tendency, Christensen’s elusive and enigmatic work has been compared to other Gay realist painters like George Tooker (1920 – 2011) and David Ligare (b. 1945).

According to the artist, “my main goal is to communicate clearly to viewers, inviting them to interact with the imagery, and engage in a sort of imaginative conversation. I try to make illustrations for stories not yet written.”

Christensen holds the B.A. in Comparative Literature (1974), Cal State University at Long Beach, and M.A. in Fine Arts (1979), Cal State University at San Francisco. In 1985 he was awarded an Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1999 he has been an Instructor and Graduate Advisor at the Laguna College of Art & Design, Laguna Beach

Curator Gordon Fuglie, a native Californian with a 30-year involvement with California art and culture, organized this exhibition for GALA as part of a series of projects developed by the Central California Museum of Art and displayed in venues throughout the mid-state. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the CCMA and serves on the exhibition committee for the ARTS Obispo gallery.

Also: GALA Art Curator, Paul LaRiviere, 805-215-3340 and
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Wes Christensen is represented by Koplin Del Rio Fine Art, Culver City, CA
www.koplindelrio.com/content/weschristensen, and www.weschristensen.com