Marc Dennis, ‘Marc Dennis, ‘He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not’ (The Transfiguration of Snow White), 2019. Oil on linen, 142 × 187 cm (56 × 74 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Last summer, during a visit to a friend’s home in Savannah, Georgia, my attention was immediately captured by what appeared to be Gerhard Richter’s iconic Betty — except that in this version, a cat was mid-leap across the composition. The work, by American artist Marc Dennis, stood out among a remarkable collection of contemporary art for its subtle strangeness and quiet provocation.

That encounter sparked my interest in Dennis’s practice. This conversation emerges from that moment of recognition, from encountering an artist who, in celebrating the act of seeing, reminds us that art’s highest calling may be to awaken wonder in the everyday.

Born in 1974 in Danvers, Massachusetts, Marc Dennis earned his BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia and his MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Based in Manhattan, with a studio also in Montclair, New Jersey, Dennis has built a distinctive career that bridges classical mastery with contemporary wit. His paintings have been featured in ArtNews, Art in America, Vulture, and Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, among others. In past interviews, he has spoken about how childhood memories, travel, and an early fascination with nature have shaped his artistic vision.

Marc Dennis, ‘Richter’s Cat,’ 2021. Oil on linen, 86 × 68 cm (34 × 27 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Dennis’s paintings are accessible yet intimate, inviting viewers into a dialogue between mastery and joy. In a contemporary art world often distant from public emotion, his appreciation for life, nature, animals, and laughter creates works that are at once sophisticated and deeply human. By merging masterpieces with whimsical new elements, he gives audiences a reason to pause, smile, and reimagine what art history can mean today.

In this interview with Global Voices, Dennis reflects on his latest exhibition, the evolution of his Flower Series, his approach to hyperrealism and humor, how current events shape his creativity, and his thoughts on success and the role of art in the age of AI.

Excerpt from the interview follows: 

Marc Dennis, ‘Three Jews Walk Into a Bar,’ 2023. Oil on linen, 203 × 152 cm (80 x 60 in), Photo courtesy of the artist.

Marc Dennis (MD): My intentions as an artist have almost always been to create a space in the painting for viewers to fit so that they are not just viewing the work, but they are, in a sense, active participants in the experience. I call it the “invisible foreground.” As for the canon of Western art, my work integrates Old Masters into contemporary settings to detail the relationship between classical art and the environment and climate we live in today’s world. My overall intention is to reconceptualize the past and the present together to create something new.

Marc Dennis, ‘Three Jews Walk Into a Bar,’ 2023. Oil on linen, 152 × 147 cm (60 × 58 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: My own childhood memories, just as the memories I’m building with my own kids (now teenagers), are crucial to my ongoing development as an artist. I rely heavily on my memories because they are woven into my personal fabric. I remember a ton of lessons and experiences from art school — from my wicked, intense interest in the Old Masters while many of my fellow classmates were interested only in contemporary art, to experimenting with a wide range of mediums, only to be driven to oil paints and Old Master methodologies.

I also lived in Rome as part of an abroad program through Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and was blown away at seeing so much work that struck me visually and seduced me mentally. It was an experience that drove me to understand not just the painting techniques of Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian (from my one-month stay in Venice), but also how to interpret an older narrative into newer concepts.

Marc, Dennis, ‘This Must Be the Place,’ 2025. Oil on linen, 131 × 104 cm (51.75 × 41 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: I’ve always been fascinated by animals, trees, plants, flowers, etc, basically of nature’s forms, since I was a child. I wanted to draw lots of things — from lizards and toads to plants and flowers to chipmunks to zebras — and my goal was to depict them as authentically and realistically as possible so viewers would immediately recognize and identify with my subject matter. I worked really hard on shape, form, value, tone, etc., to capture whatever I was looking at, and it naturally led me to hyperrealism as a style to express the beauty of nature accurately in my work. It still matters to me to get things right before I take liberties. After all, I’m not a photorealist and do not rely entirely on photographs as reference or inspiration, and for me, taking creative license and pushing boundaries are very important.

OM: Specifically for the “Three Jews Walk Into a Bar” series, what was your idea behind juxtaposing Hasidic figures with Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère?” How did you conceive the compositions? How do you see the tension between the ritual/religious codes of the Hasidic figures and the secular modernity represented by Manet, and what reactions do you hope to elicit?

MD: I’ve been researching and teaching about the Holocaust for over 20 years, with a focus on artwork made by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. During my research, the notions of Jewish humor came up from before WWII to post-Holocaust, when many Jewish people came to America and made it as stand-up comedians or comedians in Hollywood. Humor is ingrained in our DNA. And to be honest, I believe I can be funny too, well, at times, for sure! I wanted to create a body of work that was, for all intents and purposes, a deep dive into my ancestry and family tree, and humor is a big part of it.

I thought the premise or infrastructure of my idea would be the oldest joke in the world—a rabbi, priest, and Buddhist monk walk into a bar … or a rabbi, minister, and imam walk into a bar… or, well, you get it—three of whomever walk into a bar. I chose to make it three Jews since the work is about me, and I chose the most famous painting of a bar as my scene! It’s comedic gold! “Gold, Jerry, gold!” If ya know, ya know. I’d say this series of Three Jews Walk Into a Bar was “prettay, prettay, prettay good.” If ya know, ya know again.

Marc Dennis, “Giotto’s Fy,” 2024, oil on linen, 72 x 96 inches [182.88 × 243.84 cm]. Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: I respect all feedback; after all, no artist can control reactions to one’s work, but instead simply guide or hint at a specific response — and even that is a stretch. My work is wide open for interpretation, and Jerry’s reaction was authentic and actually heartfelt. He’s a mensch like me, and he doesn’t need to “like” the work; as his notion of him admitting he can’t stop thinking about it is really great and praise from a sideways perspective — a very Jewish way of seeing things in and of itself, by the way. To answer your question in a broader swath, I love praise and appreciate anyone who takes the time to stand in front of my work. In the big picture, no pun intended, it all goes back to what we learned growing up, be it from your parents or grandparents … and that is if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Just move on.

OM: Considering current events — social, political, religious, and cultural — is there anything happening now that has directly influenced your work recently? How do you see your creative process responding to or resisting those events?

MD: We’re living in increasingly controversial times, and it’s important to me as a Jewish artist to represent not only my heritage, but also my contemporary understanding of Judaism because that’s not something that I’m seeing reflected. As far as climate change goes, something I think a lot about, I am certain some of my works touch upon the steady destruction of our beautiful planet. I’m not always aware of what’s going to emerge in my work, mind you. Often, more than not, people see things that didn’t occur to me, and that is a very important and fun element in reactions to my art. I love hearing what others see and feel in my work.

Marc Dennis, ‘Ever After,’ 2025. Oil on linen, 128 × 106 cm (50.75 × 41.75 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: Success has always been relative to me at every stage of my career, even as a kid drawing birds and lizards by my pool growing up for four years in Puerto Rico. If I had a goal in mind, I’d pursue it and do my best at achieving that goal. I’ve made a lot of unsuccessful art in my life. I’ve made a lot of successful art, as well, and I am the same person today that I was as a child. I do my best in the time I’m given and feel I’ve yet to make my best work. I approach each painting determined to make it better than the last. So far, so good.

OM: The question of AI and art is increasingly urgent. How do you see advances in AI (in image generation, in tools that simulate style or composition) impacting artists who work with hyperrealism, with craftsmanship, with masterful technique?

MD: My response to this is simple, and I’ve given it little thought, but I’m fairly certain, knowing what I know of the Old Masters, if Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Vermeer were around today, they’d be using AI. And if I’m not mistaken Vermeer and also da Vinci actually had over 300 catalog sketches in their archives of ways to build a camera obscura. In essence, technology has always been embraced by creatives! So there’s that.

Marc Dennis, ‘In Our World,’ 2024. Oil on linen, 132 × 96 cm (52 x 38 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: Hah! What a question. It’s not asking me who my favorite child is, because my kids are equally my favorite forever, but particular works of mine hit differently for me. All in all, my favorite works are the ones I’m creating in my studio, which reprise my classical themes of still lifes, floral bouquets, and art-historical references in a fresh and exciting way. These new works can be seen at the upcoming fairs: Art Basel Miami Beach and Untitled in South Beach, Miami, in December 2025, and Art Singapore in January 2026. Speaking of 2026, my newest work will also be part of two upcoming solo exhibitions: Anat Ebgi Gallery in Los Angeles, scheduled to open in February 2026 to coincide with Frieze, LA, and Harper’s Gallery, New York, scheduled to open the first week of September 2026 to coincide with The Armory Show in NYC. Mark your calendars.

Marc Dennis, ‘Where the Sun Hits the Water,’ 2021. Oil on linen, 152 × 144 cm (60 × 57 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: My credo as a painter has always been to strike the eye and seduce the mind. I don’t think too much about beauty and power; I trust my gut instinct. The medical findings regarding gut biospheres and the notion that the gut has a brain or mind of its own are accurate, at least in my view. That was meant to be kind of funny, but it is valid to a great extent since I rely a lot on my gut to guide my creative output.

OM: Your Flower Series is striking in its lushness and almost hypnotic allure. What draws you to flowers as a subject? 

MD: The universality of flowers as a connection to human moments of significance has been an ongoing interest of mine since forever, from when I first pinned a corsage on my prom date to experiencing flowers at weddings, funerals, bar and bat mitzvahs, baptisms, Valentine’s Day, birth, death, etc. — the list is endless. As an artist who has visited museums since I was an art student, I have always been drawn to “Memento Mori” and “Vanitas” paintings, and that interest only grows stronger. In my heart of hearts, I believe the world needs more flowers.

Marc Dennis, ‘Caravaggio's Cat,’ 2021. Oil on linen, 81 × 86 cm (32 x 34 in). Photo courtesy of the artist.

MD: Like I said, I can be funny, and I often infuse my paintings with my sense of humor, or as others would say, my sense of sarcasm, wit, or irony. Whatever the case, I like my sense of humor and enjoy letting it sneak in from time to time. For this particular painting, I thought of a pet cat getting in the way of Caravaggio while he was working, likely in someone’s basement, and a cat happens upon him and decides to do what cats do, and the result was my painting of the cat leaping across.

It’s a brief moment in time that brings a smile to one’s face. Something very important to me as a human. There is no greater force than love, which always comes with smiles and laughter.