Portals and the Space Between / Christopher J Dennistoun
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Opening times 11th March - 15th March 18th - Saturday 21st March.
All days 1pm- 6pm.
Christopher J Dennistoun creates portals—vivid constructions of painted wood, bark, metal, and other useful materials. They are colourful, deliberate, and open to change. Each portal can be hung at different angles; there is no correct top or bottom. Every shift in position changes the composition and the way it feels and what it seems to propose. In this instability lies the work’s invitation—to imagine something new each time it appears.
There’s a sense of play in Denninstoun’s work: the way edges meet at slightly odd angles, or how colour slips beyond its boundary. Some portals lean, some stretch, some seem to wink at the idea of symmetry. They carry the marks of touch and adjustment—the pleasure of building, balancing, and letting things almost fall apart.
Out of this playful tension, the smaller sculptures emerge. They seem to have drifted from the portals, carrying their colours and proportions into freer forms. Some recall flowers, flags, spinning wheels, or fragments of machines—objects that extend the logic of the portal into three dimensions. They give physical shape to the same questions about balance and openness, as if the idea of framing had stepped off the wall to see what else it might become.
Dennistoun’s art moves between structure and release, philosophy and touch. His portals remain calm and deliberate; the smaller pieces unfold their echoes. Together, they create a space where imagination completes what form only begins.
BIOGRAPHY
Christopher J Dennistoun (b. 1949) is a multimedia artist based in London. He began his artistic journey at Winchester College, where he developed an early passion for art. At 16, a Skira book on Impressionism ignited his lifelong fascination with modernist art. Frequent visits to the Tate, Hayward, and ICA deepened his appreciation for the avant-garde.
After early attempts at painting, Christopher set it aside, finding traditional techniques incompatible with his vision. Instead, he pursued a 50-year career in rare and antiquarian books, which sharpened his aesthetic sensibilities and fostered lasting connections.
In 2020, the artist reconnected with his creative instincts and developed a unique style incorporating wood, metal Meccano, painted patterns, and negative space. His works challenge the conventional notion of a fixed composition by inviting viewer interaction.
Dennistoun’s practice questions the notion of the ‘picture’ itself—its composition, structure, and authorship. Rejecting the idea that an artwork must have a fixed central motif, he creates pieces that exist in a state of flux. Every work offers infinite possibilities of form, depending on how the Meccano struts are repositioned, reinforcing the idea that the frame is no longer a passive boundary but an active component of meaning-making.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have always been drawn to the space where the expected falls apart—the moment where tradition meets disruption. My art focuses on the absence of a center, the deliberate vacating of the canvas’s focal point, to challenge conventional artistic and philosophical assumptions. This absence creates a void that the viewer is invited to fill, either consciously or subconsciously.
My recent works, crafted from painted wooden portals and metal Meccano elements, explore the border as both a literal and metaphorical space. Frames, often perceived as secondary to the artwork, are transformed into active sites of meaning and tension. In questioning the rigidity of traditional art presentation, my work dismantles the notion of containment in both art and thought. By shifting focus to the periphery, I aim to deconstruct the hierarchies that dictate what is seen as essential and what is peripheral.
The use of Meccano is integral to this deconstruction. Traditionally, a frame is solid, unchanging, and fixed in its role. However, through the incorporation of Meccano’s perforated struts and wing bolts, the structural integrity of the frame becomes dynamic. These elements, reminiscent of the skeletal framework of a building before its completion, enable the frame to be reconfigured, making each work an open-ended proposal rather than a finished statement. This flexibility underscores my belief that the artwork is not an isolated entity but a space of interaction and evolution.
Colour, too, plays a deliberate role. Since traditional paintings revolve around a central, colored motif, my use of paint reflects and challenges this paradigm. By disrupting the notion of a fixed image, the colored elements acknowledge what they replace—engaging with tradition even as they subvert it. I do not reject modern painting practices; rather, I reject the prescriptive idea that a picture must be unalterable, that it must possess a fixed focal point, or that the artist alone dictates its final form.
The viewer’s role in activating the work is crucial. While physical movement may be left to curators or owners, the potential for transformation remains ever-present. This approach aligns with broader conceptual inquiries into authorship, perception, and the fluid nature of meaning, positioning my work as an ongoing conversation rather than a static conclusion.