Denmark has a natural affinity for the challenging and largely improvisational medium of collage. Using brightly hand-colored and found papers, fabric and objects, Denmark creates compositions that go beyond the superficial and transitory, and focus instead on what is eternal and universal.
Born in Winter Haven, Florida, Denmark was introduced to color and form by the artists in his family: his grandmother, a wire sculptor and quilt artist; his grandfather, a bricklayer noted for his unique, custom-designed molds; and his mother, who had a strong, intuitive feeling for design and detail.
While pursuing a BFA degree at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he studied under Dr. Samella Lewis, Denmark was exposed to the traditions and accomplishments of the African-American art movement. He earned his MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York in 1976. At Pratt, he was greatly influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, and by African-American masters Norman Lewis, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Ernest Crichlow.
Denmark has had over 60 one-man exhibitions and has participated in many group shows. His works are represented in numerous private, corporate and museum collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
