PATRICK DENGATE
Contemporary Cubism

I was born in 1960 and live in southeast Michigan. In college, I first studied biology, then switched to a study of art. In 1984 I earned a BFA from Wayne State University in Detroit. For several years I worked in a realist style, but looking for new creative challenges in 2010, I began an exploration of less representational modes of
visual expression.

I call this work cubist, in that it's composed of intersecting geometric shapes which describe planes and forms. These forms result in abstracted, yet recognizable, images. Working this way has freed me from the constraints of accurate perspective and color—and instead use repetitive shapes and what one might call "migrating color" to depict a landscape or a collection of objects, to tell a "story." The Cubist movement, as first developed in Europe by Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Pablo Picasso, lasted but a relatively short time in the early 20th Century. It had, however, a profound impact on much of the art that followed, and its influence can be found in much of the imagery we see today.

I am also influenced by such movements as Futurism, Orphism, Fauvism, and Expressionism. The works of Robert Delaunay, Lyonel Feininger, Erich Heckel, Franz Marc, and Heinrich Campendock serve as inspirations.