# Donna Dennis' Houses and Hotels

**URL:** <https://community.underminingnormal.com/t/donna-dennis-houses-and-hotels/272>\
**Category:** people should be seeing more art\
**Tags:** home, americana, art\
**Created:** [September 27, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://community.underminingnormal.com/t/donna-dennis-houses-and-hotels/272 "2024-09-27T02:12:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alex](https://community.underminingnormal.com/user_avatar/community.underminingnormal.com/alex/32/24_2.png) [@alex](https://community.underminingnormal.com/u/alex)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://community.underminingnormal.com/t/donna-dennis-houses-and-hotels/272/1 "2024-09-27T02:12:30Z")

</div>

# Houses and Hotels

**[O’Flaherty’s](https://www.oflahertysnyc.com/), NYC, April 14th 2024**

The gallery was dark. I wasn’t ready for that. And then I was there (somewhere), there. I didn’t think my eyes would adjust so well.

It was nice to just look at them, not to assume I knew what I was looking at, and just let my eyes adjust to the darkness that held us, and that feeling of being transported, to go with it.

It felt generalized in a nice way. Not an over-indexing on a demographic stereotype to render it as some kind of fact or universal, and not in a snarky way, or MAGA-style nostalgic way.

It was nice. It was weird, and it was nice. It felt like other people who took road trips would feel the familiarity. Even the strangeness. Maybe it would be the first time we’d talk about it.

#### Hotel Pacifica, 1972

Acrylic on Masonite, wood, cellulose compound, mirror, fluorescent light, sand, fabric, paper, metal, Approx. 5’8" x 5’8" x 1’2"

 ![Donna Dennis: Hotel Pacifica, 1972](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/67758245b68f8c207921eca71fd8860ed5f90fa3.jpeg)

* * *

#### Two Stories with Porch (for Robert Cobuzio), 1979

Acrylic and enamel on wood and Masonite, with glass, wallpaper, cellulose compound, metal screen, plastic, neon and incandescent light, 10’6" x 4’7" x 5’

 ![Donna Dennis: Two Stories with Porch (for Robert Cobuzio), 1979](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/55910a8d123d99c87881314cc331e60de3a0873a.jpeg)

* * *

 ![Donna Dennis: Houses and Hotels installation view](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/a3120fa7822e2218394689a789baac75b6566e04.jpeg)

* * *

#### Donna Dennis: Tourist Cabin with Folded Bed, 1986

Mixed media, 6’6" x 4’6" x 6’

 ![Donna Dennis: Tourist Cabin with Folded Bed, 1986](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/2e2d4613986b0df08f774223d3dfa6f918404541.jpeg)

 ![Donna Dennis: Tourist Cabin with Folded Bed, 1986](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/c7835b11e995c65fcf8b1181b1ae3e3acb7a9569.jpeg)

 ![Donna Dennis: Tourist Cabin with Folded Bed, 1986](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/def94a72927f62b2d4c98f6c67028235b6994ee6.jpeg)

* * *

#### Tourist Cabin Porch (Maine), 1976

Acrylic and enamel on wood and Masonite, glass, metal screen, fabric, incandescent light, sound (summer night, crickets), 6’6” x 6’10” x 2’2”

 ![Donna Dennis: Tourist Cabin Porch (Maine), 1976](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/f60d89f04d00520ddce6eefe753129f910a24b30.jpeg)

* * *

#### Cataract Cabin, 1993–1994

Acrylic and enamel on wood and Masonite with glass, metal, grout, rope, pump, water, mirror, 12’ x 12’ x 12’

 ![Donna Dennis: Cataract Cabin, 1993–1994](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/0bb9183c14cda57d84bbc1aef6fbe817c6c83076.jpeg)

 ![Donna Dennis: Cataract Cabin, 1993–1994](https://community.underminingnormal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/1d541a0fadb871673543bf87b5a64d95f6e982d0.jpeg)

* * *

**For more on Donna Dennis’ work Houses and Hotels**

- Donna Dennis Asks, When Is a House a Home?, [ArtReview](https://www.donnadennisart.com/press/artreview)
- Donna Dennis’s Newly Published Diaries Provide A Rare Glimpse Into A Heady Time of Change for Women Artists, [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/donna-dennis-diaries-feminism-women-artists-oflahertys-1234702717/)
- A Heartland Godmother of Installation Art, No Longer in the Shadows: _She is a trailblazer of the architectural sculpture movement, and her diaries rival Frida Kahlo’s. Are we ready for the unsettling clarity of Donna Dennis?_, [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/arts/design/donna-dennis-architecture-sculpture.html)

**Also by Donna Dennis**

- Has Henry James Put Me in This Mood?, [The Paris Review](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/09/20/has-henry-james-put-me-in-this-mood/)