PAT DENNIS

About the Artist

Artist’s Bio ~ Pat Dennis In 1975, Pat Dennis began painting in Nyack, NY, at the birthplace and boyhood home of American Realist painter, Edward Hopper. One of her first influences was as working assistant for Sari Dienes on “The Land,” an artists’ community in Stony Point, New York. Neighbors Robert Rauchenberg and John Cage would drop in on Sari and Pat for ground chicken bones and spinach lunches. A very strongly opinionated artist, Dienes constantly gave Pat lessons on art making and on being an artist. During this time, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Dienes were doing earth moving art happenings on the Stony Point property. For one newly graduated with a degree in Mathematics, Dennis knew these were interesting and important beginnings, however, it would take many years of living and being an artist to understand their full import. Moving to Taos, New Mexico, Pat studied for a year at the Taos School of Fine Arts, a small art institution. She continued to paint and was strongly drawn to the powerful work and person of Georgia O’Keeffe. She also developed a strong working-artist and personal relationship with Randy Lee White, a renowned Native American artist. The gorgeous light, the high desert, the incredible mountains and sky, the spirit of O’Keeffe and the powerful people of Taos in the ‘7o’s continue to dwell today in the artist’s heart and mind. In 1979, the New York Feminist Art Institute became another powerful opening for Dennis. Twenty-eight women gathered from all over the globe to investigate this thing called art with regard to mainstream culture. Through processes that evoked rage and tears, Pat and her sisters-in-art unearthed their individual and collective power as artists. At The Actors Institute in NYC, the artist participated in classes and workshops designed to enhance creativity. Here the artist gained significant self-knowledge and insight into the power of the truth, the speaking of truth, painting the truth and being the truth. While attending the Institute, Pat participated in founding the TAI Gallery at the Actor’s Institute on 19th Street in New York City. During this period, as well, she exhibited and sold at the Nelson Rockefeller Collection on 55th Street and at Leger de Main Gallery at Lincoln Center. As Pat explains, “Life on the planet is very difficult, as is painting the ‘truth’, whatever that may be in the moment.” The artist continues…. Enjoy!