I’m Happy You’re Here, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Marc Dennis at Harper’s Chelsea 512

Marc Dennis, Dracula, 2024, oil on linen, 70 x 55 inches 

By ANNALIISA BENSTON February 19, 2025

I’m Happy You’re Here, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Marc Dennis at Harper’s Chelsea 512. The exhibition opened January 9, 2025, with a reception attended by the artist.

The show brings together a collection of new works that feel as much like celebrations as they do meditations—lush, hyper-detailed compositions that revel in the beauty of the world, while acknowledging its inevitable decay.

Dennis has spent the past decade drawing from the Dutch Golden Age tradition of vanitas and memento mori, but his approach is anything but somber. Instead of simply reminding us of mortality, his paintings immerse us in a moment—one that feels both fleeting and infinite, like the glint of sunlight on a soap bubble, or the slow bloom of a flower.

Marc Dennis, Happily Ever After, 2024, oil on linen, 70 x 56 inches
 

In Happily Ever After, a profusion of flowers erupts from the canvas, their petals painted with such intensity they seem to vibrate. Bees hover in suspended animation, navigating between iridescent bubbles that subtly hint at human invention, a reminder that the natural and the artificial are always in conversation.

Marc Dennis, A Simple Relationship, 2024, oil on linen, 52 inches in diameter

Dennis frequently plays with scale and framing, using circular canvases—such as in A Simple Relationship—to create immersive micro-worlds. In this particular piece, the format recalls both the shape of our planet and the portal-like quality of a telescope lens, pulling viewers into a dreamscape of bug-eyed frogs, carnivorous plants, and celestial symbols. These scenes of abundance, teetering on the edge of fantasy, are where beauty and strangeness exist in perfect harmony.

Marc Dennis, Giotto's Fly, 2024, oil on linen, 72 x 96 inches
 

His fascination with detail extends to even the smallest subjects. In Giotto’s Fly, Dennis transforms something as ordinary as an insect into a thing of wonder, nodding to the 14th-century legend of Giotto di Bondone impressing his master by painting a fly so lifelike it fooled the eye. It’s a fitting reference—Dennis, too, has a knack for making the everyday feel extraordinary, for capturing a kind of magic hidden in plain sight. WM

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I’m Happy You’re Here will be on view from January 9 through March 1, 2025, at Harper’s Chelsea 512, located at 512 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM – 6 PM.

Marc Dennis (b. 1974, Danvers, MA) has exhibited widely, including solo presentations at K Contemporary, Denver (2023), A Hug From the Art World, New York (2023), and Gavlak, Los Angeles and Palm Beach (2022 and 2021). His work is part of the permanent collections of the Norton Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, Springfield Museum of Art, and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Dennis holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. His paintings have been featured in Artnews, New York Magazine, Time Magazine, and other publications. Dennis lives and works in New York City.