Gaylen Hansen: Three Decades of Paintings opens on Friday night, February 15, 2008 at the Salt Lake Art Center. The exhibition features over 40 works by Hansen, a painter whose signature style of the rural West encompasses a world of distorted comical settings with gigantic animals and insects, and, of course, his alter ego the Kernal.

Now in his mid-eighties, Hansen's great imagination, zest for life, and obvious love of nature still allows him to paint with as much talent and enthusiasm as in his earlier years. His canvases have become bolder and more complex in composition.

Gaylen Hansen: Three Decades of Paintings was organized by Keith Wells, Curator at the Museum of Art, WSU. Wells will present a Gallery Talk at 6:30 p.m. during the Opening Reception on Gallery Stroll Friday, February 15, 2008. Admission is free.

There is a full-color trade book produced for this exhibit by Marquand Books of Seattle. The 120-page publication contains more than 100 color plates and includes an introduction and acknowledgements by Museum Director Chris Bruce; text by Curator Keith Wells; Hansen's own commentaries on more than 20 individual paintings; a tribute to Hansen by cartoonist and fellow artist, Gary Larson, and provides a chronology highlighting important events and persons in his life. The book is on sale in the Salt Lake Art Center bookstore.

Gaylen Hansen will present an Art Talk at the Salt Lake Art Center on Gallery Stroll Friday, March 21, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Creer Auditorium.

Gaylen Hansen: Three Decades of Paintings opens to the public on Friday, February 15, 2008 during a free Opening Reception from 6 to 9 p.m. and runs through May 31, 2008.

Hours:
Tuesday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Closed Sunday, Monday and Holidays

ADMISSION: FREE

Location: Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple