PDX Contemporary Art is pleased to present Drift fence, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Wes Mills.

Wes Mills’ work is inspired by his surroundings and his practice takes place in quiet reflection and contemplation with little disruption. The materials he uses are specifically chosen for their subtlety and quietness.

This group of paintings was inspired by Mills seeing a fence line running through the landscape and noticing how it reflects a linear aspect of the landscape itself, as well as how these short fence lines create drifts in the snow. The square compositions are created with graphite lines and oil paint. Though initially appearing spare, careful observation reveals a beautiful and subtle depth of color and texture from the layering of paint. For Mills, the paintings are completed when he is able to locate himself in the space.

Wes Mills lives and works in Taos, NM. His work has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums both in the United States and abroad in Europe including James Kelly Contemporary (Santa Fe, NM), Sun Valley Center for the Arts (Sun Valley, ID), Richard Levy Gallery (Albuquerque, NM), Portland Art Museum Apex Space (Portland, OR), Missoula Art Museum (Missoula, MT), Peter Blum (New York, NY), Dwight Hackett Projects (Santa Fe, NM), Galerie Albrecht (Munich, Germany), Hosfelt Gallery (San Francisco, CA), Gallery Joe (Philadelphia, PA), Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago, IL), and the Tamarind Institute (Albuquerque, NM), among others.

Mills' prints and drawings are included in such collections as Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA), New Mexico Museum of Fine Art (Santa Fe, NM), Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University (Waltham, MA), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Missoula Art Museum (Missoula, MT), Harwood Museum of Art (Taos, NM), and the Museum of Fine Art (Boston, MA), as well as numerous private collections.

Among the publications that have featured Mills’ work are: art ltd., New American paintings, The oregonian, Portland Mercury, Art in America, The magazine, NY arts magazine, Boston globe, The New York observer, The Missoulian, Modern painters magazine, The new republic magazine, The New York times, Artnet, The Chicago tribune, Bomb magazine, Flash art, Artforum, and The new art examiner.