BORN: 1949 Rockford, IL

EDUCATION:
1979 California State University at San Francisco. M.A. Fine Arts
1974 California State University, Long Beach. B.A. Comparative Literature
1967 University of the Seven Seas, Chapman College, (Scholarship)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2007 "Fragments", Koplin Del Rio Gallery Culver City, CA
2005 "American Shots", Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
1999 Koplin Gallery, Cabinet Pictures, Los Angeles, California.
1995 Koplin Gallery, Works on Paper, Santa Monica, California.
1993 Koplin Gallery, Accidents of Preservation, Santa Monica, California,
        (Review: June 25, 1993, Santa Monica Outlook).
1992 Southern Exposure at Project Artaud, (personal) Histories, San Francisco
        Municipal Art Galleries, San Francisco, California.
1991 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, (LA Times review: July 4, 1991)
1989 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, (LA Times review: October 27, 1989)
1988 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, (LA Times review: April 29, 1988; Artweek: May 12, 1988).
1983 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, (LA Times review: December 16, 1983)
1982 Montalvo Center for the Arts, Saratoga, California, (September, 1982).

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2007 “Scratches and Doodles”, Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA
2006 “The S-Word: The State of ‘Spirituality in Contemporary Art”, Judson Studios, LA, CA
2006 "Reality Effect", Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA
2005 "Drawing as Preparation", Judson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 "Drawings VII", Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2002 "Portraiture: Reflection, Identity and Presence", SAC Arts Gallery, Santa Ana, CA
        "The Perception of Appearance: A Decade of Contemporary American Figure Drawing",
              Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, (June 22 – Sept. 22) curator, Norman Lundin
        "Drawings VI", A Group Exhibition Featuring over Forty Artists, Koplin Gallery
2001 "Still Life Expressions", Cal State University, LA, (April/May), La Monte Westmoreland
        "Storytelling in Space and Time", San Francisco State University Art Gallery
2000 "Representing LA: Pictorial Currents in Recent Southern California Art",
              Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, traveling to Art Museum of South Texas,
              Corpus Christi, Texas; catalog essay by Gordon Fuglie.
        "The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: Ancient Ritual, Modern Muse", University of Michigan,
              Museum of Art/The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, Ann Arbor, MI,
              catalog edited by Elaine Gazda.
        "The Great Novel Exhibition", Palo Alto Art Center, CA. (Review: Artweek, Sept. 2000).
        "The New Classicists", Los Angeles City College Gallery, CA.
1999  Third Annual Derriere Guard Festival, San Francisco, CA.
        "Story Tellers", Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, (March/April).
        "Courting the Muse: Contemporary Pictures, Historical Influences", Cal State Fullerton,
              (April 10 – May 13, 1999, Review: Artweek, June, 1999).
        "Taleteller", El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA (February)
1998 "Drawings IV", Koplin Gallery, LA
        "The Drawing Group, An Emerging “School of LA?” Laband Art Gallery, Loyola
        Marymount University, LA, CA, (Reviews: LA Weekly, 4/10/98; LA Times, 4/11/98,
              Artweek, May, 1998
        "Human Conditions: The Figure", Cerritos College Fine Arts Gallery, CA
1997 "Reconfigured Painting", (October), Reconfigured Drawing, (November)
        “Pick of the Week,” (LA Weekly, 10/1/97), Santa Monica College Art Gallery.
        "Allegorical Re/Visions", Barnsdall Park, LA, CA,
              (curated, and with a catalog essay by Ruth Weisberg and Noel Korten),
              “Pick of the Week,” LA Weekly, 1/17/98.
        "Body Language: Current Figurative Painters", Art Academy of Southern CA
        Laguna Beach, California, (LA Times Review, 9/7/97; Orange County Register, 9/7/97).
1996 "Watermarks, A National/International Exhibition", Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
        "Re-Masters / New Images from Old Sources", Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA
        "L.A. Figures: A Survey", Lizardi/Harp Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
1995 "Angeli", Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
        "Concept in Form: Artists’ Sketchbooks & Macquettes", Palo Alto Cultural Center, CA
        "Emulations: Quotations from the Source", Riverside Art Museum, (July/August).
        "One Vision: Space 1975/1995", Space Gallery, Los Angeles, (June/July 1995).
1994 "The Way of the Flesh", Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
1993 "Drawings III", Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992 "Drawings II", Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1991 "On Paper", Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1990 "Portraits of the Art Crowd", Transamerica Galleries, LA, CA (catalog).
1989 "portraits<artists by artists>portraits", Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
        "Watercolor: Contemporary Currents", Riverside Art Museum, CA (catalog).
        "A New Reality", McFaddin Gallery, Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas.
        "Ex Libris": Narrative Imagery in Post-Modern LA, José Drudis-Biada Art Gallery,
              Mount Saint Mary’s College, LA, CA
1988 "Realism Now", Judy Youens Gallery, Houston, Texas.
        "Images of Artists by Artists", Security Pacific Bank, LA, CA, (catalog).
1987 "West Coast Painters", University of Hawaii at Hilo.
1984 "A Broad Spectrum: Contemporary LA Painters & Sculptors",
              The Design Center of LA, CA, (catalog).
        "Hollywood: The Muse – Motion Picture Imagery in Art", Beckstrand Gallery,
              Palos Verdes Art Center, California, (catalog).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1998 Alter-Gilbert, Gilbert,"Savage Suburbia: Three Southern California Painters and the
              Myth of  Domestic Tranquility", Panik, No. 5, Long Beach, CA
1996 "Figurative Painting", Artweek, June
        "Three Modern Genre Painters from LA: F. Scott Hess, Jon Swihart & Wes Christensen",                       American Arts Quarterly, Spring
1994 "Poles Apart", Chapman, Number 78, 79, "Scotland's Quality Literary Magazine,"
              Edinburgh, UK
        "Sensitive Reflections", Modern Painters, A Quarterly Journal of the Fine Arts,
              Vol. 7, No. 1, p. 112, London, England
1992 "Des Vieillards Leur Avaient Parlé de 93...", (with Margaret Crane), République?
              Digraphe, Déc. No. 62, Mercure de France
        "Which Figure is in Costume?" , (with Ian Hamilton Finlay),
              Wild Hawthorne Press, Scotland  Gerald M. Ackerman:
              "Hercules Ever at the Crossroads: Moral Dilemmas in the Paintings of
              Wes Christensen", SULFUR 30, Spring
        "Heiligenanstalt", (with Frederike Mayröcker), A Morning Star Folio,
              Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1991  Geer, Suvan, Los Angeles Times, Thursday, July 4, Space Gallery
1990 "One Word Works", Impulse Magazine, Toronto, Canada
1989 "A Fashion for Ecstasy: Ancient Maya Body Modifications", Modern Primitives,
              RE/Searc, #12, SF,  CA
         Donohue, Marlena, Los Angeles Times, Friday, October 27, Space Gallery
1988  Michael Laurence: "Wes Christensen: Compressed Narratives", VISIONS Mag.,
              Summer, Vol. 2, No. 3.
         Donohue, Marlena, Los Angeles Times, Friday, April 29, Space Gallery
         Geer, Suvan, "Reality's Equivocal Nature", Artweek, May 12
1985 "Archaeological Illustration from Photographs", Archaeological Research Tools, Vol.1,
         Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
1983  Los Angeles Times, December 16, Space Gallery
        "A Maya Bone Carving from Sarteneja, Belize", (with Matthew Boxt), Journal of
              New World Archaeology, Vol.V, No.4, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
1984 "Moctezuma's Dinner", Frank Magazine, Fall, San Francisco, CA

AWARDS:
1985 National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship.
1984 Juror's Award, (Judy Pfaff), Works on Paper Annual, San Marcos, TX
1981 Juror's Award, (Henry Hopkins), Texas Fine Arts Assoc., Austin, TX
1980 Juror's Award, (George Neubert), Bay Arts '80, Belmont, CA
        Purchase Prize, (Henry Hopkins, curator) "CA: Printmaking Survey,"
              Humboldt St. Univ., Humboldt, CA
1979 Juror's Award, (Josine Ianco-Starrels), small image show, Redlands, CA
        First Place, (Harvey Breverman, juror), "All on Paper," Buffalo, NY

TEACHING:
        Laguna College of Art & Design, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road,
        Laguna Beach, CA 92651; (949) 376-6000; http://www.lagunacollege.edu/main.html