Artist Jo Dennis | Art Carousel

Morgane speaks to artist Jo Dennis over a glass of Glen Moray whisky at her studio in Peckham, London, in February 2025.

Jo Dennis (b 1973, UK) is a British artist based in London. Her practice spans two decades working across painting, sculpture, photography, and installation. Dennis explores our emotional connection to place and memory, specifically in relation to ruination, surface, and decay, and how these themes link with notions of mortality.

More about Jo's work:

Steeped in memory, Jo Dennis’s work is shaped by both her itinerant upbringing in a military family and a keen interest in the memories embedded in forgotten places and materials. Her paintings and sculptures made from the fabric of surplus military tents—as well as found wood and metal—are covered in swipes and swathes of crimson, periwinkle, mauve, and burnt orange, bursting with the effervescent energy of a teenage dance. Dennis’s hulking canvases and three-dimensional textile works resonate with Abstract Expressionism and the draperies of Sam Gilliam. Beyond painting, Dennis has also created photography and installations that poetically revive and preserve the past lives of derelict buildings in London and abroad

During the interview Jo references the following:

• The interview features Rita, Jo’s wonderful dog, on her lap.
• At the time of the interview, Jo was listening to All Fours by Miranda July as an audiobook.
• Jo received her MA Painting at The Royal College of Art London (2022) and BA Fine Art and Contemporary Critical Theory at Goldsmiths College London (2002).
• If Jo could have dinner with any artist, it would be Robert Rauschenberg. She would want to especially pick his brain on the assemblages.
• The artists Jo would like to spotlight are all of her artist friends – go check them out!


Credits:

Created & Presented by Morgane Wagner
Directed by Antonia Ackermans @ Manda Productions

1st Camera: Antonia Ackermans
2nd Camera: Paulina Haas-Heger

Editor: Mathias Gnoth

Graphics: Amaan Hassen

Copyright: Art Carousel, 2025

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