Again for the first time

Fernberger Gallery is delighted to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Stephen Truax, the artist’s first solo presentation in Los Angeles, and his debut with the gallery. For the past ten years, Truax has made paintings on-site from direct observation in one-shot sessions using a custom portable setup. Truax captures friends and lovers in repose, focusing especially on his partner, Thomas. Looking to American plein-air painters like Fairfield Porter and Lois Dodd, Truax treats the landscape and the figure with equal directness and brevity. Working in series, he revisits familiar sites and approaches them each time with a fresh painterly perspective, tracking changes in light, atmosphere, and weather over time. For this ongoing endeavor, the exhibition is titled, Again, for the first time. With this title, the artist also wryly addresses the fact that this exhibition marks his first since 2016. All works are gouache and pencil on 9 x 12 or 10 x 14 inch watercolor tablets, which enables significant risk-taking and experimentation, and the ability to rework them later in the studio. Truax paints on the beach at Fire Island Pines alongside artist friends, and is informed by the legacy of Paul Thek, Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Margaret French, who created a fantasy world of idyll and creativity. A small town lake in New Hampshire is another site of special significance for Truax’s paintings. Other locations on Long Island are depicted, as well as Saugatuck, Zipolite, and Berlin. David Colman wrote in ARTFORUM on Truax’s work, “A suite of postcard-like, Alpine-style paintings by Stephen Truax magnified the idea of longing through the revelation that sites in the landscapes depicted places for gay hookups.” Stephen Truax’s work has been exhibited recently at the FLAG Art Foundation, the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, and the Long Island Museum. He has organized numerous exhibitions including Toward the Light: Artists for the Ali Forney Center at David Zwirner, Any distance between us at RISD Museum, and Intimacy at Yossi Milo Gallery. His work has been discussed in The New York Times and ARTFORUM, and Fire Island Art: 100 Years. His work is in the public collections of the 21C Museum Hotel and the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College. He earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Since founding his advisory in 2022, he has raised over $1.7 million for nonprofits that serve the LGBTQ+ community, including the Ali Forney Center. Stephen Truax Stephen Truax works in gouache and pencil in a diaristic style, painting en plein air during moments of calm between more frenetic periods of work and play. His scenes typically unfold at beaches or pools and feature reclining male figures, including friends and his romantic partner, Thomas (a frequent model in his work). Truax has also depicted idyllic landscapes known as secret gay cruising sites, rendering them like postcards from serene, untouched destinations. Truax’s work highlights both the body and landscape as evocative sites of desire. Stephen Truax is an artist and art advisor in New York. His work was recently exhibited at the FLAG Art Foundation in an exhibition entitled “The Swimmer” alongside an all-star group of artists, the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, and the Long Island Museum. He has independently organized numerous exhibitions including "Toward the Light: Artists for the Ali Forney Center" at David Zwirner; "Any distance between us" (2021-2022) at RISD Museum; and "Intimacy" (2018) at Yossi Milo Gallery. His work has been discussed in The New York Times, ARTFORUM, and other publications, and is in the public collection of the 21C Museum Hotel and the Tang Teaching Museum. He earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2007.