I Love to read n write about Things that I find Interesting
Johan Creten
Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share
Sign in
Name
Johan Creten
Books
Johan Creten: Odore Di Femmina
Interview johan creten expo de storm the storm middelheimmuseum
Johan Creten (born 1963) is a Flemish sculptor, born in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. He lives and works in Paris, France. In 2009 he was nominated for the Flemish Culture Prize.
Monumental work by johan creten moved to a new location near the red star line museum
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
"Terre Fertile / Terre Fébrile", Château de Pommard, Burgundy, France until November 20, 2016
"La Traversée", Centre Régional d'Art Contemporain, Sète, France, Opening October 21, 2016
Life and career
Johan Creten started to practice drawing and sculpture at an early age. Fascinated by art, literature and music, he met a couple of passionate antiquarians in his hometown that supported him during the first years of his life. In 1985, he graduated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent where he discovered a clay studio, left behind by the students. Training as a painter, Johan Creten found a real potential in this technique : he started to include ceramics elements in his paintings and familiarized with mud – that he has chosen to be his new medium. He graduated at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. In the 80’s, art was surrounded by conceptual and minimalist artists. By choosing clay, Johan Creten made a bold move, trying to open the possibility of this rare technique in the contemporary art field.
He has been firstly represented by Galerie Meyer in Paris, specialized in tribal art from Oceania that organized two of his exhibitions : « Johan Creten: Peintures et Sculptures » in 1987 et « Kunstkamer. Installation et performance » in 1988. He has also been represented by the galerist Robert Miller in New York who dedicated him an exhibition in 1988 (« Odore di Femmina ») and in 2001(« Johan Creten : 3 Torsos »).
Johan Creten is currently represented by Galerie Perrotin in New York, Paris and Hong Kong, Almine Rech Gallery in Brussels and Galerie Transit in Mechlin.
In the past twenty years, Johan Creten has been offered prestigious residencies such as the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres and the Villa Medici. By travelling widely around the world and experiencing different studios, each residency was an opportunity to enrich his œuvre.
Artistic practice
Johan Creten is considered one of the precursors – with Thomas Schütte and Lucio Fontana - in introducing ceramics in contemporary art. Fascinated by its beauty, its symbolic impact and the richness of its history, the artist explores the medium through multiple techniques and scales. His painting training brings another dimension to his sculpture work, giving the glaze and its colors a main role in the artworks.
Deeply influenced by the environment and its effects on the impressions of his works, Johan Creten’s work ranges widely, from delicate clay sculptures to large-scale bronzes, a medium he introduced in his work more recently.
Inventing phantasmagoric and organic creatures and forms and creating his own fantasy world through them, Johan Creten’s œuvre reveals the artist own engagements and raises existential questions such as the ambiguity of sexuality in the human race and the unpredictable strength of nature among others.
Solo exhibitions
2015
"The Nature of Clay", The Monaco Project for the Arts 2015, Pavillon Bosio - ESAP, Monaco
"God is a Stranger", Galerie Perrotin, New York
2014
"Fireworks", Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
"The Storm", Middelheim Museum, Sculpture Park, Antwerp, Belgium
"IN SITU 2015", Abbaye de Gellonne, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, France
"Amours. Tours et détours", Galerie nationale de la tapisserie", Beauvais, France
"Vormidable. Contemporary Flemish Sculpture", Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands
"Paysages Rêvés. Fin de siècles", Musée de Cambrai, France
"Glasstress Gotika 2015", Venice, Italy
"Obsession, Maison Particulière", Brussels, Belgium
2014
"De Zee" (The Sea), Mu.Zee, Ostend, Belgium
"Beating around the bush Episode #2 starring Johan Creten, Pierre Huyghe, Ien Lucas, Rebecca Morris, Lara Schnitger", Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Pays-Bas
"Le Mur – Collection Antoine de Galbert", La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
"Cet obscur objet de désirs. Atour de l’Origine du Monde", Musée Gustave Courbet, Ornans, France
« G I R L » par Pharrell Williams, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
2013
"Happy Birthday, 25 ans de la Galerie Perrotin", exposition organisée par la Galerie Perrotin, Le Tripostal, Lille, France
"Back to Earth. From Picasso to Ai Weiwei. The rediscovery of ceramics in art", Herbert Gerisch-Foundation, Neumünster, Allemagne
"Remake", Musée royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz, Belgique
Projet inaugural de la Fondation Flag-France en partenariat avec la Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Parc du Château de La Celle-Saint-Cloud, La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France
"Révélations. Le salon des métiers d’art et de la création", Grand Palais, en partenariat avec la Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Paris, France
"Terra Arte – Projektes" , Ziegelei Hundisburg, Hundisburg, Allemagne
"Château hanté" , exposition organisée par le FRAC Auvergne, Domaine Royal de Randan, Randan, France
"Sculptures 9 – Animal" , Musée Despiau-Wlérick, Mont de Marsan, France
"Tresses 13 . dés-tresse et délacet treize" , Maison des tresses et lacets, La Terrasse-sur-Dorlay, France
"La Révolte et l’Ennui . La collection du FRAC Auvergne" , FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
"De belles sculptures contemporaines . 30 ans du FRAC Pays de la Loire », Hab Gallery, Nantes, France
"Modernité du luxe français" , Festival Colbert, Istanbul, Turquie
"Mon île de Montmajour" , Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles, France
2012
"Newtopia: The State Of Human Rights" , MMMechelen vzw, Malines, Belgique
"Closer to Thee" , Galerie Transit, Louvain, Belgique
"Can’t buy me art ?" , CIAP, Hasselt, Belgique
"La Belle et la Bête" , Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France
"Metamorphosis : The Transformation of Being" , The Grand Residence of Lord Edward Davenport, London, UK
"La Plasticité du langage" , Ancienne agence de l’architecte Robert Mallet-Stevens, Paris, France.
"Des Fleurs en Hiver", Delacroix - Othoniel – Creten, Musée Eugène Delacroix, Paris, France
"Entre les murs, accrochages éphémères" , Salons de l’Hôtel de Ville, Nuit Blanche 2012, Paris, France
Frieze Art Fair, Galerie Perrotin, London, UK
Frieze Art Fair, New York, New York, États-Unis
"Bêtes monstres et bestioles" , Château de Tarascon - musée imaginaire du Moyen Age, Tarascon, France
FIAC, Almine Rech Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris, France
"Promenades imaginaires" , dans le cadre du Festival APART, Post Tenebras Lux, Les Baux-de-Provence, France
"Sèvres une histoire à la française" , dans le cadre du Festival APART, La Cure, Les Baux-de-Provence, France
"Le Spectacle de la Nature" , au domaine départemental de la Garenne Lemot, Gétigné-Clisson, France
Art Brussels, 30th Contemporary Art Fair, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels Expo, Bruxelles, Belgique
Art Brussels, 30th Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Perrotin, Brussels Expo, Bruxelles, Belgique
Art Brussels, 30th Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Transit, Brussels Expo, Bruxelles, Belgique
"Beauté animale , Grand Palais", Paris, France
Group show, Galerie Perrotin", Paris, France
"Blabla et Chichi sur un bateau" , Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France
2011
"Bêtes off", Conciergerie, Paris, France
"Bestes, bestiaux et bestioles (Genèse)", in conjunction with "Monuments et animaux", Château d’Oiron, Oiron, France
"Big brother, l’artiste face aux tyrans", Palais des Arts et du Festival, Dinard, France
"Art HK. Hong Kong International Art Fair", Almine Rech Gallery, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China
"Art in the City. Outdoor sculpture exhibition", Art Brussel, 29th Contemporary Art Fair, Almine Rech Gallery, Egmont Park, Brussel, Belgium
"Céramiques d’artistes depuis Picasso", works of the collections of the Fond National d’Art Contemporain, Centre d’art contemporain Doual’art, Douala, Cameroun
"Propos d’Europe 10: des artistes belges", Fondation Hippocrène, Paris, France
2010
"Beyond Limits, a selling exhibition of modern and contemporary sculpture", Sotheby's, Chatsworth Castle, Derbyshire, UK
"Circuit Céramique : la scène française contemporaine", Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, France
"Liefde voor het boek", Hasselt, Belgium
"Between the Sacred and the Profane", CIAP, Hasselt, Belgium
"Sèvres, Porcelaines Contemporaines", Musée de l'Ermitage, Palais Menchikov, Saint Petersbourg, Russia
Château de Rambouillet, France
"Who is afraid of the Museum?" Museum Hof van Busleyden Mechelen, Belgium
"Olbricht Collection", Essen & Berlin, Germany
"New Monuments" Middelheimmuseum, Anvers, Belgium
"Coup de ville en chambre d'amis" Tentoonstellingsproject, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
"Weizijwijzei, Landart", Flandres, Belgium
"Manifestation d’art contemporain", Centre culturel français, Yaoundé, Cameroun
"Métissages à Rochefort: Rencontre entre un artiste et une technique textile", Rochefort, France
2009
"New Love" Princessehof Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
"Feux continus" Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Grand Hornu, Belgium
"La Conquista della Modernita", 1920–2008, Musei Capitolini, Roma, Italy
"Flower Power", Villa Giulia, Verbania, Italy
"Silencio", Johan Creten - Paolo Grassino - Sarkis, Eglise Saint Jean, Le Monastier organized by Fonds Régional D'Art Contemporain Auvergne, France
2008
"Christian Lacroix", Musée Réattu, Arles, France
"Grandeur", curator Anna Tilroe, Sonsbeek, Netherlands
"Sand : Memory, Meaning and Metaphor", The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, USA
"La dégelée Rabelais, la Dive Bouteille, Trich", Château de Jau, FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, France
"Pour ainsi dire", Galerie Vasistas, Montpellier, France
"Trinch !", Cases-de-Pène, Château de Jau, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
2007
"Intrusions", Petit Palais, Paris, France
"Dialogues Méditerranéens", Saint-Tropez, France
2006
"From Arp to Bourgeaois", Wallace Collection, London, United-Kingdom
"Céramique Fiction", Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
2005
"Contrepoint 2", Musée du Louvre, Paris, Louvre, France
2004
"Because the earth is 1/3 dirt", C.U. Art Museum, Bolder, Colorado, USA
"Métissages", MACO Oaxaca, Mexico, Mexique
2003
"Fragileé, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims, France
2002
"The Erotic Life of Clay: Sex Pots", Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA
"Beyond the Male Pale", J.M. Kohler Arts Center, Wisconsin, USA
2001
"Water on paper", CIAP, Hasselt, Belgium
2000
"Confrontational Clay", the artist as Social Critic, traveling show, USA
1999
"Garten der Flora", Museum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
1997
"5th International Istanbul Biennial", Yerebatan Cistern, Istanbul, Turkey
"Sables brulants", Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Netherlands
"Retour d'Italie", Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris
"L'exposition informelle", Frac Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
1995
"Fémininmasculin", Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
