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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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"Dennis is probably closer to the bejeweled manner of a medieval painter of miniatures than anyone contemporary."
– Alan Artner, Tribune art critic, Chicago Tribune, '07
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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, 07
“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 ‘06
“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, ’06 (excerpt from catalog for solo
show at Ricco Maresca Gallery, Feb 23 – April 8, 2006)
“Marc Dennis tackles controversial
issues with his enlarged graphic images of Nazis being shot,
people talking on cell phones, and the 9/11 attacks from
the viewpoint of victims within the buildings.”
- Pipe Dream, Binghamton, NY ’05
“His works are both beautiful
and mysterious all at once…nervous and on edge with
a psychological aspect.”
– The Sun Post, Miami Beach, FL ‘04
“Marc Dennis paints a perfect pristine wave.”
– The New York Times, New York, NY ’04
“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 ‘04
“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 ‘04
“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,
‘03
“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 ‘03
“Dennis’
work is a small celebration of art and the pain and suffering
that is its fodder.”
– Boston Globe, Boston, MA ’01
“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 ’00
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"His
works beg questions from viewers…raising questions
of vulnerability and control."
– The Corning Leader, Corning, NY '99
"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 '98
"Using
the style of seventeenth-century Baroque artists, Dennis'
often surreal contexts are disorienting and forceful."
– Art Papers, Atlanta, GA '98
"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 '98
“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 ’98
“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, '97
"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 '97
“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 '96
"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 '96
"Rather
than trashing art history, Marc Dennis uses it to make contemporary
social commentary."
- The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA '94
"…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 '94
“Marc
Dennis’ paintings, while ultimately redemptive, are
perversely exotic in their search for a communal language.”
- Art Papers, Atlanta, GA ‘93
"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 '93 |
