Anat Ebgi is pleased to present the debut exhibition of new work by Marc Dennis on view at 6150 Wilshire Boulevard. Dennis continues his reinterpretations of French Neoclassical, Baroque, and Dutch Golden Age painting. On view from April 18 through May 23, the exhibition is titled and organized around the central motif of Love Letter, paying homage to Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Love Letter’ paintings.

The concept for Love Letter formed last summer, after Dennis visited The Frick Collection in New York, where an unprecedented exhibition united three of Vermeer’s Love Letter paintings in a single gallery. Dennis has long drawn inspiration from the Western art historical canon, combining his appropriations with unexpected elements of humor and subversion—such as his works incorporating iridescent bubbles or cartoon animals.

Folded envelopes, opened letters, and creased notes are depicted in many paintings. Though their visual presence is subtle and their contents remain concealed, their symbolism is grand – suggestive of intimate correspondence while recalling a nearly-disappeared form of communication. Today, it is entirely possible to intimately know a lover’s texting style while being unable to recognize their handwriting. Like oil painting itself, Dennis’s letters elevate a slower and more tactile form of communication.

Dennis is known for his hyperrealistic paintings that explore what he describes as “the subversive potential of beauty and pleasure.” His floral still lifes speak to the sense of timelessness of this subject matter, while quietly reflecting on the fleeting nature of life, seduction, and declarations of love. His interpretations of the love letter similarly consider themes of longing, desire, and private thoughts. A related sense of temporal exchange is reflected in the bubbles drifting over the surfaces of the canvases, which contain literal fragments of landscape, sky, and images from Dennis’ own life. Throughout the exhibition, reflections in glass, metal, and bubbles echo the long fascination of painters with mirrors and illusion. These ethereal surfaces operate as miniature worlds, bringing past and present into the same moment of observation.

Alongside his still lifes, Dennis presents portraits that reference the compositional clarity of European salon painting and the theatricality of Baroque portraiture, including reimaginings of Caravaggio’s Bacchus, and three Ingres portraits: Baronne de Rothschild, Princesse de Broglie, and Comtesse d’Haussonville. These poised figures are surrounded by plump songbirds and lush bouquets, echoing the symbolic language encoded in Dutch still life painting. At times, his meticulously staged compositions introduce subtle disruptions with furniture, flowers, and animals, or anachronistic contemporary motifs such as food porn ice cream sundaes. Dennis’ gentle unsettling of historical illusions forms a love letter to the enduring traditions of painting, opening a dialogue between centuries of visual culture from the vantage point of contemporary life.