“An artist always feels uneasy when called upon to speak of his own work. It should speak for itself, particularly when it is valid.” Yves Klein

Welcome & thank you for taking the time to view my work. To begin your tours simply click on portfolio, located in the top left hand corner. Each one of the tiles that come up represents a different section or phase in my work. Clicking on any one specific tile will open up a series of other tiles, each one representing a specific piece in that series. One more click to view the work; two more clicks to enlarge.


Dennis M. Burke was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois on April 8th, 1982 to an Irish carpenter and an Italian bookkeeper; two hereditary facts that would play a role in his development and identity as an artist. Although his art schooling started young, he quickly found formal training to be stringent and pretentious. Leaving the confines of the classroom, Dennis found solace and freedom in his father’s woodshop. Constructing objects out of scrap while closely observing his father’s craft, Dennis would develop an appreciation and understanding of artisan labor and craftsmanship. These early influences of working with materials and tools would later become a decisive part of his artistic philosophy and approach.
Being that Dennis’s Italian grandmother was something of an avid Sunday painter; his formal academic training would later be encouraged leading him into a four year comprehensive study of drawing and art history. Beginning with introduction to drawing and finishing with a high score of 5/5 on his Illinois AP portfolio exam, Dennis left the city for the rural area of Charleston Illinois to accept a scholarship to Eastern Illinois University (EIU). After three years Dennis quickly left EIU for more cultural surroundings; Florence, Italy. This move was the most decisive turning point in his career. Up until then, Dennis was working as a laborer to support himself and fund his art. But there, for nine months, he was able to fully engulf himself in his practice, allowing him to coalesce the polar aspects of his life into a visual style. A style that is both gritty and elegant giving way for an art that lies somewhere in-between the walls of Lower Whacker Drive and the halls of the Uffizi.