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The newest Community Focus Space exhibit at John Wayne Airport features paintings by artist Dennis Carrie whose paintings, landscapes, still lifes, and portraits, focus on representing his subjects with respect and integrity. His current works aim to capture the character and honesty of some of the most impactful individuals throughout history. Select works from his Portraits of Integrity collection and other pieces will be on display in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal beginning April 19, 2022, through May 19, 2022.
Finding his way to becoming an artist has been a lifelong journey. Dennis Carrie first received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After a successful thirty-year career teaching mathematics in Orange County, he changed course and pursued a graduate program in painting. In 2010, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Figurative Painting from the Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, California. The artist credits his education as being invaluable toward elevating his skill level and purpose for painting.
Born in Glendale, Dennis Carrie grew up in the Sunland-Tujunga area of Southern California. From a young age, he was interested in and inspired by art. Pouring over the drawings of master artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Vincent van Gogh, their examples inspired him, which had a lasting influence on his art throughout his career. These masters taught him the importance of consistent drawing and practice, a lesson that he learned early on and followed into the present day. His series of paintings, called Portraits of Integrity, is a sampling of historical and contemporary figures whose lives he views as defined by good character.
In speaking about his current work, Dennis Carrie states, “In today’s social media dominated environment, concepts of humility, personal responsibility, and respect for the truth are not always encouraged. Contemporary pressures of social media, particularly on younger people, lead toward the admiration of those obtaining notoriety with very little accomplishment. The subjects represented in my paintings are meant as an educational opportunity for the viewer to contemplate people whose conduct reminds us about the dignity and potential of human beings. Their value was not based on a number of followers or any type of popular approval rating. Each of these individuals represents an extraordinary person and, as such, a signifier of how good character elevates and enhances all of our lives.”
Dennis Carrie has had his art shown in more than 40 juried shows in Southern California and across the nation. His mixed media work in the University of North Carolina, Asheville’s annual Drawing Discourse, won the Juror’s award in 2017 and the First Place award in 2020. Locally, his paintings have been accepted in the Irvine Fine Arts Center All Media Show, Irvine, California, winning Honorable Mention in 2011 and First Place in 2013. He has also exhibited at the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts for a number of years. View more of his drawings and paintings on his website.
The exhibit is viewable (pre-security) on the Departure (upper) Level near security screening areas in Terminals A, B, and C and the Arrival (lower) Level adjacent to Baggage Carousels 1 and 4.
For more information about the John Wayne Airport Arts Program, visit www.ocair.com/terminal/artexhibits.
