Dennis Flavin is a vibrant local figure whose art reflects his exuberant personality and deep community ties. For four decades, he ran the legendary Halibut Point restaurant in Gloucester, known for its welcoming atmosphere and the best Manhattan Chowder in town. When the pandemic brought the restaurant to a close, Dennis fully embraced his lifelong passion for painting.

After graduating from Boston’s Vesper George School of Art, Dennis chose to focus on the joy he found in creating art rather than on the market pressures of trying to sell his art. Painting during his off-hours, Flavin developed a style that evolved from representational to bold abstraction, rich in texture, energy, and color.

Flavin’s work reveals a creative and frenetic mind, shaped in part by his close friendship with American Joseph Solman, an American painter and founder of The Ten, a group of New York City Expressionist painters active in the 1930s. Their long walks and deep conversations about art in New York City left a lasting impact on Dennis’s approach and philosophy.

Dennis now paints almost daily, rising early each morning eager to get back to the easel in his antique barn studio in Annisquam. The continuous work has filled the space with an enormous assortment of paintings, pastels, etchings, and mixed media works. Flavin’s subject matter and style stand out in a coastal region known for harbor scenes and anchored boats. Dennis’s art, on the other hand, is decidedly unmoored, often wild, and always distinclty his own.

The COSMOS Gallery exhibit, FLAVIN NEW WORK, features paintings, etchings, and mixed media, many on exhibit for the first time. This rare collection offers a glimpse into his prolific creative output. His perspective: “Every day is new to me. You just have to stay healthy, keep painting, and love what you do.”