"Mr. Dennis, a self-taught bug chef, has long had a fascination with insects. Paintings he's done of beetles and wasps hang in his loft in Brooklyn. He ate a moth on a dare as a teenager and years later, a cooked cockroach that accidentally came with a restaurant meal."
- Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal, September 2010
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"Master painter Marc Dennis provokes our comfort zones in more ways than one; his paintings are skillfully executed, laborious still life masterpieces of beautiful subjects, usually directly or indirectly influenced by nature - much like his diet."
- Paul Bruno, DIRTY Magazine, September 2010
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"Dennis is a highly accomplished artist whose work has been exhibited in many galleries around the country. In this intimate conversation he talks about his unusual subject matter as well as his extensive research on the clandestine artworks that were created in many of the prison camps during the Holocaust."
- Tish Pearlman of Out of Bounds from National Public Radio, Ithaca, NY, April 2010
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"Standouts at Bartos include Marc Dennis‘s amusing paintings of birds thinking of clouds."
- Paul Laster, Flavorpill, Art That Makes You Laugh, April 2010
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"Sarah Murkett and Elana Rubinfeld who co-curated the show make it plain that the intention is to explore the various ways artists have used humor to address more serious issues."
- Anthony Haden-Guest, The Daily Beast, Can Art Be Funny? 2010
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"Dennis' paintings share his appreciation for the inherent beauty of the natural world - right down to the sheen of the beetle's shell and the way a wasp curls into itself in death."
- Diana Bean, Good Life Magazine, February 2009
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"Dennis' flowers present themselves as a kind of nucleus of beauty, surrounded by voluptuous petals and held by a strong sexy peduncle."
- Kyle Hinton, Slash Magazine, January 2009
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"His paintings are so highly evolved – they’re a little more than realistic."
- David Masello, Town & Country, October 2008
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"The paintings evidence an ornithologist’s eye, a youthful fascination with the natural world and an artist headlong immersed and in love with the material of paint."
- Freese, A blog about art, October 2008
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"Whereas you or I may think of Japanese Beetles as garden pests... Dennis suggests a tray of festively frosted pastries."
- John O'Hern, American Art Collector Magazine, June 2008
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"Marc Dennis's photorealistic painting True to Life pictures wasps as many of us - well, at least those of us who have ever been stung - like to see them: dead."
- New York Magazine, February 2008
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"By studying nature day in and day out Marc has found something most of us have missed. By dissecting and recreating nature he has discovered and connected his individual human nature and traits to his subject to create an intimate and knowledgeable relationship."
- Nova Clutch Culture Space, February 2008
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"Marc Dennis has made a career out of exploring a perverse preference for challenging preconceived notions of beauty and pleasure."
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 2008

"Dennis is probably closer to the bejeweled manner of a medieval painter of miniatures than anyone contemporary."
– Alan Artner, Tribune art critic, Chicago Tribune, October 2007
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"Dennis uses his brushes like a microscope and transforms all the subtle designs, shapes and colors of these amazing objects into richly detailed painterly concerns."
- Joshua Rose, American Art Collector Magazine, February 2007
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“Dennis paints hyperreal unreality. His paintings of flowers are eerily familiar but totally alien to the real world.”
– John O’Hern, American Art Collector Magazine, November 2006

“Destabilizing the familiar, dissatisfied with the limits of nature, Dennis leads us into the spectacle of subtly altered worlds, into the spellbound, enigmatic and wondrous terrains of invention and artifice.”
– Lilly Wei, 2006 (excerpt from catalog for solo show at Ricco Maresca Gallery)

“His works are both beautiful and mysterious all at once…nervous and on edge with a psychological aspect.”
– The Sun Post, Miami Beach, FL 2004

“Marc Dennis paints a perfect pristine wave.”
– The New York Times, New York, NY 2004

“Marc Dennis’ realistic oil paintings of animals are incredibly painted; they are very odd and discomforting, but beautiful in their technical facility.”
– The Washington City Paper, Washington DC 2004

“Marc Dennis gives a nod to Caravaggio with paintings both beautiful in their execution and haunting in their effect.”
– The Press & Sun Bulletin, Binghamton, NY 2004

“Dennis’ work is a small celebration of art and the pain and suffering that is its fodder.”
– Boston Globe, Boston, MA 200

“The most startling works are ink drawings by Marc Dennis of good and evil. By devotedly executing the details, Dennis forces the viewer to contemplate the mixed messages of war as art.”
– Austin American-Statesman, Austin, TX 2003

“In his decidedly post-modern paintings, Dennis seduces the viewer to look closely by using familiar and inviting genres like still-life and portraiture to ensnare the viewer who subsequently could not resist the rich layers of emerging meaning.”
– Andrea Inselmann, Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 2003 (excerpt from catalog for solo show at Ricco Maresca Gallery)

“Among the most disquieting works in the show are by Marc Dennis. They are some of the most effective narratives because the unusual and disturbing quality of the subject matter forces us to think about power.”
– City Magazine, Rochester, NY 2000

"His works beg questions from viewers…raising questions of vulnerability and control."
– The Corning Leader, Corning, NY 1999

"Dennis uses mythological and biblical references as well as symbols exploring not only the act of painting, but also relevant societal concerns."
- New Art Examiner, Chicago, IL 1998

"Using the style of seventeenth-century Baroque artists, Dennis' often surreal contexts are disorienting and forceful."
– Art Papers, Atlanta, GA 1998

"Dennis' paintings invite participation and revulsion in an unsettling world of intense and unpleasant emotional pressure. While tempting the viewer to merge with the warm flow of the luscious medium, one is likely repelled by the perverse grins, bad teeth and gums of his subjects."
– NY Arts, New York, NY 1998

“Like the past masters he loves – Caravaggio, Velasquez, Goya -- Dennis is both a social satirist and a deeply interior artist. Looking out on an irrational society, he holds us at a distance with his observing eye and extended arm.”
– Katy Siegel, contributing editor for ARTFORUM, excerpt from essay for marcdennis.com 1998

“Beauty is balanced with ugliness in the eerie but finely made paintings of Marc Dennis…His paintings have rich, glowing colors and handsome glazes, but his subjects are sometimes disturbing.”
– San Antonio Express News, San Antonio, TX 1997

"Dennis, drawing on time-tested literary sources, blends biblical and mythological materials in some of the show’s finer pictures. Indeed, seductiveness, as opposed to beauty, is at risk in Dennis’ revisionist atmosphere."
– Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI 1997

“Inspired by the paintings of the High Renaissance, during the transition to the Baroque era, Dennis uses the methods of the Old masters to create fluid, richly colored compelling images.”
– San Antonio Express News, San Antonio, TX 1996

"Marc Dennis uses classical techniques and approaches from the past, yet possesses an obvious understanding of modernism and a desire to engage the present."
– Omaha World Herald, Omaha, NE 1996

"Rather than trashing art history, Marc Dennis uses it to make contemporary social commentary."
- The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA 1994

"…His paintings offer the technical prowess and skill of old masters such as Velasquez and Caravaggio, but they are frightening and perverse. Dennis’ paintings are celebrations of freaks in paradise."
- The Forward, New York, NY 1994

“Marc Dennis’ paintings, while ultimately redemptive, are perversely exotic in their search for a communal language.”
- Art Papers, Atlanta, GA 1993

"Marc Dennis draws on art history, particularly Baroque painting to address the theme of violence...As sources for his work, the artist draws on classical mythology, biblical narratives and Native American customs...The results are powerful works that affirm life's beauty as well as address its pain."
- Artnews, New York, NY 1993