Denise was born and raised in Duluth, MN. She spent two years living and traveling throughout Europe before getting her BA in international relations and Italian literature at the University of Minnesota in 1998. During a fifth year of study, at the University of Bologna on the Katherine Sullivan Scholarship she attended a Byzantine art course, which stirred a growing interest in medieval art. Three years later she returned to Italy to study traditional mosaic methods at the Cooperativa Mosaica in Ravenna, and currently reinterprets these techniques using natural materials that are indigenous to Minnesota. Over the past five years she has turned to sculptural forms in collaboration with Mark Roberts, exhibiting first “the College of Cardinals” in 2004 at the Vision VIII International Juried show in Covington Kentucky.  Over the past year examples from the "Art of the Catacomb" series have been featured at the Bakehouse Complex in Miami Fl and Gallery Sei-Un-DO in Zurich, Switzerland. The work ,"Cat-acomb" was awarded best sculpture at Arts in Harmony '07 in Elk River, MN this spring. The "Art of the Catacomb" Exhibition will debut in August at Gallery 181 in Lawrence, MA and Nina Bliese Gallery in Minneapolis in November. Denise and Mark have expanded their collaboration with the “Last Polaroid Show,” an ongoing project of manipulated Polaroid film imagery centered on the surroundings of Como Conservatory in St. Paul, MN. Large prints of these botanicals are currently on display at La Belle Vie Restaurant in Minneapolis.

Mark gave up a performing career when Ansel Adams introduced him to photography in the mid ‘50’s. He was a participant in the first California Gifted Kids Program at Stanford University, receiving a Masters in Music. In 1978, with encouragement from Robert Mapplethorpe, he published the “Adam Without Eve” portfolio. He continued to work in large format photography until 1982 when he studied with Pierre Cordier, who originated the chemigram process. At this point Mark’s work underwent a dramatic change and he started working almost entirely with chemigrams, producing a body of work that centered on themes such as the Holocaust and Lost Musical Manuscripts. He also experimented with Polaroid materials producing manipulated images as large as 4’ x 4’ in dimension. Mark continues to work primarily with alternative processes in photography and more recently with sculptural form. He draws heavily on his early musical experiences, which are reflected, in much of his work. Over the past four years Mark has been collaborating with Denise Rouleau on the series  "Art of the Catacomb," which includes approximately thirty sculptures, ranging in size from 11” to 12 feet. Although not musical in content, the catacombs display a grid structure much like a manuscript, and the colors and forms of the figures are really quite tonal in content.

gallery@markdroberts.net