Denise Mumm

I was born in Munich, Germany and raised in Sioux City, Iowa. I moved to Staten Island, NY in 1982 and now reside in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, on the shores of Sandy Hook Bay.

My mixed media paintings are inspired by the persistent beauty found where the natural world gets stressed by humanity. I find that beauty in the geometry and light in a boatyard, the lush tangles of plants against manmade structures, or in the topography of an oyster shell.

I approach painting with the sensibility of the sculptor I once was, as though I am building the painting. I paint with acrylics and layer patterned or textured papers throughout with acrylic medium. I choose a deep wooden panel as a matrix, which creates more of a physical presence on a wall, and paint around all the sides, continuing the image and making it change slightly depending on the viewer's position.

Mom was an accomplished watercolorist and Dad did ceramics. Their influence and many hours at the local art center constituted my early training. As for formal training, I earned a BFA in painting from the University of Iowa, where I also got an MA in metalworking and jewelry. I learned printmaking from the Women's Studio Workshop. As a studio assistant to Miriam Shapiro I learned how to make collages. I was also an assistant to Faith Ringgold, sewing and quilting her story quilts. Both these women taught me invaluable lessons about living the artist life.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

A Gardened State, Atlantic Highlands Art Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 2023

43rd Annual Monmouth Museum Juried Show, Middletown, NJ, 2023

Annual Juried Exhibition, Monmouth County Art Alliance, Red Bank, NJ, 2020

Member Shows, Atlantic Highlands Art Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 2019, 2020, 2022

Really Affordable Art $how, BWAC, Brooklyn, NY, 2018

Michael Ingbar Gallery, NYC, 2017/2018

Women Under Siege; It's Happening Here, Ceres Gallery, NYC, 2017

Robbins Reef Lighthouse: A Home in the Harbor, The Noble Maritime Collection, Staten Island, NY, 2015 - 2023

One Step Beyond: Art Off the Charts, Fountain House Gallery, NYC, 2016

Exposure 2014, Ceres Gallery, NYC

Embrazo Argentina, (2 person) Tottenville Public Library, Staten Island, NY, 2013

Juried Art Exhibit, Staten Island Museum, Staten Island, NY, 2012

Titanic, The Noble Maritime Collection, Staten Island, NY, 2012

MAXIMUS/minimus, ART at Bay, SI, NY, 2011

Miniature Show, Art Haus, SI, NY, 2010

Residual Effects, ART at Bay, SI, NY, 2010

HUGE unHUGE, Access Gallery, Snug Harbor, SI, NY, 2009

Tango, Pritzker Gallery, Highland, NY, 2007

Small Works Invitational, Soho 20 Chelsea, NYC, 2007, 2005, 2003

Silver, 25th Anniversary Exhibi...