Dionis Ortiz Biography

At an early age, Dionis Ortiz, a native of Harlem, New York, enrolled in classes at The Children’s Art Carnival, a not-for-profit visual arts after-school program. There, he received a foundation in a range of arts techniques including figurative drawing and painting, abstraction, photography, comic arts and illustration.

Throughout his high school years he received awards from and including Arts Connection, Scholastic’s Alliance for Young Artist and Writers division, Hallmark Gold Key Award, and the NAACP ACT-SO Gold Key Award, which qualified him for their national awards competition.

Dionis received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Purchase College and his certification in Art Handling from The Bronx Council on the Arts. He has interned at galleries in New York City, including Renee Fotouhi Fine Art, and The D.U.M.B.O Art Center in Brooklyn, and participated in various group shows in Harlem with established artists including Terry Boddie and Emmett Wigglesworth.

Dionis cultivated his interest and background in the arts to establish Inspiration Fine Art, a fine art gallery located in Harlem. Since its inception in 2005, he has organized and curated various group exhibitions and showcased the works of emerging and established artists from New York City.

In 2008 he assisted Metropolitan Transit Authority grant recipient Jose Ortiz in painting eleven panels on canvas. In 2009 he is assisted lead muralist Eduardo A. Rabel in painting five concrete water pipes at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy in New Jersey. He designed a mural for Heineken as part of their Mural Arts Program. He is also being commissioned by the Addition Research and Treatment Corporation in Brooklyn in creating a mural painting on canvas.

Artist's Statement

Through my art, I explore my dual identity as a New Yorker from Harlem and as a person of Dominican descent, born to immigrant parents. My paintings visually narrate interpretations of my experiences and surroundings through the use of landscape, symbols, text, as well as various mediums and painting techniques. My work utilizes both abstract and figurative painting styles. I believe that patterns, shapes and colors are the foundations of human creativity and I use them to sculpt my visual narratives. Among my strongest influences are artists whose creations speak to the struggles inherent in the human condition, including Romare Bearden, Charles White and Emmett Wigglesworth.