JO DENNIS







Jo Dennis (b. 1973, UK) is a British artist based in London. Her work gives physical form to the contradictory states we often inhabit simultaneously: strength and fragility, celebration and exhaustion, disorder and control. Rather than describing specific narratives, her work creates conditions for association.

Through painting, welding and assembly, Dennis creates paintings and sculptures in which surface and structure become inseparable. Working predominantly with found objects, textiles and steel, material and process become the means through which emotional experience takes form. Military surplus tent fabric recurs throughout her practice because of its capacity for transformation. Its seams, openings and fastenings are as significant as its surface, allowing two-dimensional works to extend beyond the stretcher and into three-dimensional space. Rather than seeking balance or resolution, her work exists in a continual state of becoming, held somewhere between construction and collapse.

Dennis received her MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (2022), and her BA in Fine Art and Contemporary Critical Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London (2002). Recent exhibitions include Never the Straightest Path (solo), Belenius, Stockholm (2026); The Long Now, Saatchi Gallery, London (2025–26); A Letter to My Daughter (solo), Carvalho, New York (2025); A Glass of Absinthe (solo), JO-HS Gallery, Mexico City (2025); and David Zwirner PLATFORM, curated by Elisabeth Johs (2025).

Dennis is a recipient of the Hopper Prize (2025) and Arts Council England funding (2023–24). She has co-founded several artist-led projects, including Pigeon Park (2021–22), Peckham 24 Photo Festival (2016–22), AMP Gallery (2015–18) and Asylum Chapel (2010–present). Between 2017 and 2023, she collaborated with Sid Motion Gallery on five solo projects, including the launch of her artist's book, I Touched This With My Hand, I Touched That With My Eye (2020), featuring an essay by David Campany.










SELECTED ARTWORKS



Jo Dennis, Waste Land, 2026, oil and acrylic paint on military surplus tent fabric, 70 7/8 x 78 3/4 in Jo Dennis, Beast of Burden, 2024, clothing rail, military tent fabric, coat, dress, pillow case, sand, rope, wire and suede, 68 1/2 x 58 1/4 x 20 1/2 in Jo Dennis, Pin Cushion, 2026, oil and acrylic paint, marble dust, and paper on reclaimed tent fabric, 140 x 120 cm Jo Dennis, Visitor, 2026, oil, acrylic, and spray paint on military tent fabric, 80 1/4 x 37 3/8 x 13 3/4 in Jo Dennis, Washing Line, 2025, oil and acrylic paint, marble dust, found fabric, yarn and paper on canvas, 25 5/8 x 21 5/8 in Jo Dennis, Paper Planes , 2024, oil, acrylic, spray paint, marble dust, cotton bed sheet, paper on canvas and military surplus tent fabric, 80 3/4 x 94 1/2 in Jo Dennis, The Twins, 2023, oil, acrylic and spray paint on military surplus tent fabric and steel, 89 3/8 x 59 x 23 5/8 in Jo Dennis, Still Hollow Water, 2024, oil, acrylic and spray paint, cotton fabric, marble dust on military surplus tent fabric, 78 3/4 x 70 7/8 in


INSTALLATION VIEWS



Installation view, The Armory Show 2025 Installation view, The Armory Show 2025, Bobby and The Maiden, 2025 Installation view, Sweet Wendy, 2024, A Glass of Absinthe, JOHS CDMX Installation view, Town Hall Disco, 2025, A Glass of Absinthe, 2025


EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS









CV



MA Painting at The Royal College of Art London (2022)
BA Fine Art and Contemporary Critical Theory at Goldsmiths College London (2002)

Solo Exhibitions

Never the Straightest Path, Belenius, Stockholm, Sweden 2026
A Letter to my Daughter, Carvalho, New York 2025
Glass of Absinth, curated by Elisa Carollo, JO-HS Gallery, Mexico City 2025
Town Hall Disco, Newchild Gallery Antwerp, 2023 - 24
Absent without Leave, Sid Motion Gallery 2022
Autonomous Zone, off-site with Sid Motion Gallery, London 2021
No Parts Can Leave Yard Without Payment, Peckham 24, London 2019
A Kind of Solid Liquid, Sid Motion Gallery, London 2018
Matter Out of Place, Sid Motion Gallery, London 2017
Your Feet in the Air and your Head on the Ground, Peckham 24, London 2017

Selected Group Exhibitions
The Long Now, Saatchi Gallery curated by Phillipa Adams 2025
She Shi Chi Chi, Belenius Gallery Stockholm, Sweden 2025
David Zwirner PLATFORM curated by Elisabeth Johs 2025
Across the Pond, Eric Firestone Gallery, New York 2024
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Gallery, London 2024
Matter, Flowers Gallery London 2023
Ares, with OHSH Projects for the Art in Conflict series at Cromwell Place 2023
Both Sides Now, curated by Samuelle Visentin at Oneroom Gallery, London 2022
Pigeon Park 2, Manor Place, London 2022
Post>andalism, Het Hem, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2021
Hurry up please, it’s time, Seen Fifteen Gallery London 2021

Art Fairs

The Armory Show, New York, JOHS Gallery 2025 (solo)
Dallas Art Fair PM-AM Gallery 2024 (solo)
Photo London, Sid Motion Gallery, London 2018 (solo)

Projects and Residencies

The Hopper Prize, grant winner 2026
Studio Lazcano, Mexico City 2 month residency 2025
Recipient of Grants for the Arts from Arts Council England DYCP 2023-24
Guest curator at Flowers Gallery for group show Matter, October 2023
Pigeon Park co-founder and curator, artist lead large-scale group exhibitions 2021-22
Cyprus College of Art, residency July 2022
Artists self-published book, I touched this with my hand, I touched that with my eye, essay by
David Campany 2020
Peckham 24 Photo Festival co-founder and creative director 2016 - 2022
Asylum, not for profit art space, co-founder 2010 - Current
Artist in residence at Castello Di Monticello d’Alba, 2018