Cristof Dènmont’s work is like the mischievous reflection of figurative and abstract painting. The contrasts and flat tints in his pictures give a basic indication of the depth of field, while the elements that compose the scenery seem to look back at us with the hazy composure of someone who has nothing left to prove. The suspension effect and playfulness that emanate from the works makes one feel as if one were inside a board game. Viewers may feel they have landed on a planet where figures of terrestrial life coexist in ways that are as surprising, or even puzzling, as pictures found on postcards advertising “from the tropics with love”. And yet behind these apparently symbolic leaps lies an extensive knowledge of painting, which the artist loves to hijack, and a biting reflection on what human beings consider to be close or foreign to them. With a single move, the artist raises the question of what it means to belong and to appropriate territories and concepts.

Marie Birot, 2020.