Johan Creten

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.[1]

Johan Creten

Life and career
Christina Mirabilis (Sint-Truiden)
The Bat (Bolsward)
Le Grand Vivisecteur (Leiden)
The Column (Antwerp)

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

2020

  • I Peccati, Villa Medicis, Rome, Italy

2019

  • The Vivisector, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
  • Mechelen Museumnatch, Galerie Transit, Malines, Belgique
  • Skulptur I Pilane, Sweden
  • True Love, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubaï, United Arab Emirates
  • Rédemption, Église Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, Valloire, France

2018

  • Pliny's Sorrow, Château d’Arenberg, Leuven, Belgium
  • Sunrise / Sunset, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
  • Naked Roots / Naakte Wortels, Beelden Aan Zee Museum, La Haye, Pays Bas,
  • Alfred Paintings, Galerie Perrotin, New York, USA

2017

  • Fiac on Site!, Petit Palais, Paris, France
  • Between Day and Dream, Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 8 GODS, Galerie Almine Rech, Bruxelles, Belgique

20165

  • La Traversée, Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain OCCITANIE / Pyrénées-Méditerranée, Sète, France
  • Terre Fertile / Terre Fébrile, Château de Pommard, Bourgogne, France

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
  • "Gulden Snede", Galerie Transit, Mechlin, Belgium

2013

  • "The Vivisector", Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
  • "JC", Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2012

  • "Fire-Works", Musée Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium

2011

  • "Johan Creten. Pliny’s Sorrow", Almine Rech Gallery, Brussel, Belgium[2]
  • "Les ruches de Saint Bernard", Abbaye du Thoronet, in conjunction with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, Thoronet, France

2010

  • Presentation of the work "De Zuil/La Colonne", Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp, Belgium
  • "Dark Continent", Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France

2009

  • "Why does Strange Fruit always look so sweet?" Galerie Saint-Séverin, Paris, France

2008

  • "Johan Creten, sculptures", Galerie de la Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Paris, France
  • "Johan Creten- De gewonden/Les Blessées", Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands[3]
  • "Johan Creten, sculptures", Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France[4]
  • "Johan Creten: La Femmina", on the occasion of "Dégelée Rabelais", Musée Archéologique Henri-Prades, Lattes, France
  • "Strange Fruit", Galerie Perrotin, Miami, USA[5]

2007

  • "Johan Creten. Tour des Forces", on the occasion of the Biennale ARTour 2007, Royal Museum of Mariemont, Belgium
  • "Johan Creten. Beelden", Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden, Netherlands[6]

2006

  • "Narcissus Saved", Galerie Transit, Mechelen, Belgium

2004

  • "Miami Dreams", De Garage - ruimte voor actuele kunst, Mechelen, Belgium

2003

  • "Johan Creten. Sculpture", Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
  • "Johan Creten", Bass Museum of Art, Miami, USA[7]
  • "ArtBrussels, 21th Contemporary Art Fair", Galerie Transit, Brussels Expo, Brussel, Belgium
  • "Johan Creten", J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, Florida, USA

2001

  • "En attendant les Égyptiens", Galerie Papillon, Paris, France
  • Installation in conjunction with "Extraits : 5 lieux investis. Art contemporain, paysage et économie", Les Rairies, Anjou, France
  • "Johan Creten: 3 Torsos", Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA
  • "C’est dans ma nature", Hôtel de Ville, Aulnay-sous-Bois, France

2000

  • "Johan Creten Ceramic Sculpture", Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • "Animalia", Galerie Transit, Mechelen, Belgium
  • "Animalia", Cultureel Centrum de Bogaard, Sint-Truiden, Belgium

1999

  • "Que Maravilla, Que Maravilla...", Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • "Johan Creten. Escultura Villa de García", Casa del Obispado, Monterrey, Mexico

1998

  • "Sculptures récentes", École des Beaux-Arts, Dunkerque, France
  • "L'Homme parfait", Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCO), Genève, Switzerland
  • "Johan Creten: Works on Paper", Galerie Transit, Leuven, Belgium
  • "Odore di Femmina", Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA[8]

1997

  • "La Misère Dorée", in conjunction with "Retours d’Italie", Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
  • "Johan Creten", La Box, Bourges, France
  • Installation, Villa Médicis, Roma, Italy

1996

  • "Wereldbeelden/De Voorkamer", W 139, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1995

  • "Huis van bewaring - Marc Cloet en Johan Creten", Stedelijk Museum Het Toreke, Tienen, Belgium
  • "Amerika Amerika", Galerie Arndt & Partner, Berlin, Germany

1994

  • "Les Amants", Galerie Transit, Leuven, Belgium
  • "La Mort d’Adonis", Musée Crozatier, Le Puy-en-Velay, France
  • "La Mort d'Adonis", FRAC Auvergne, Château de Chareil-Cintrat, France
  • "La Mort d’Adonis", Gallery Hesselbach, Berlin, Germany
  • "La Tête d’Obsidienne", La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
  • "Johan Creten", Gallery Beam, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • "60 rooms with a view", Art Hotel, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1993

  • "Johan Creten", Galerie de la Villa, Villa Arson, Nice France

1992

  • "Johan Creten. Het Paard van Troje/Le Cheval de Troie", 1986–1992, Galerie Transit, Leuven, Belgium

1991

  • "En Quarantaine", installation, brise-lames, Sète, France

1990

  • "Saint-Sodom & Stimulators", CIAP, Hasselt, Belgium
  • "L'oeil de l'antiquaire", Galerie Transit, Leuven, Belgium

1988

  • "Kunstkamer", installation and performance, Galerie Meyer, Paris, France

1987

  • "Johan Creten: Peintures et sculptures", Galerie Meyer, Paris, France

Group exhibitions

2016

  • "CERAMIX. Art and ceramics from Rodin to Schütte", Maison Rouge, Paris & Sèvres, Cité de la Céramique, France
  • "350 ans de Création", Villa Médicis, Rome, Italy
  • "Everybody is Crazy but Me", Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium
  • "From Here to Eternity", Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium
  • "Mir Ist Das leben Lieber", Weserburg Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany

2015

  • "CERAMIX", Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • "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", Royal Museum of 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
  • "Art Brussels, 29th Contemporary Art Fair", Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels Expo, Brussel, Belgium
  • "Art Brussels, 29th Contemporary Art Fair", Galerie Perrotin, Brussels Expo, Brussel, Belgium
  • "Art Brussels, 29th Contemporary Art Fair", Galerie Transit, Brussels Expo, 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[9]
  • "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[10]
  • "Grandeur", curator Anna Tilroe, Sonsbeek, Netherlands[11]
  • "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[12]
  • "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[13]
  • "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[14]

1999

  • "Garten der Flora", Museum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany

1997

  • "5th International Istanbul Biennial", Yerebatan Cistern, Istanbul, Turkey[15]
  • "Sables brulants", Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Netherlands
  • "Retour d'Italie", Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris[16]
  • "L'exposition informelle", Frac Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

1995

  • "Fémininmasculin", Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

1991

  • "Incrustaties", Picaron Editions, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Public collections
  • Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
  • Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France
  • Sèvres-Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France
  • FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, France
  • FRAC Pays de la Loire, France
  • FRAC Auverge, France
  • The Olbricht Collection, Berlin / Essen, Germany
  • Collection of the city of Sonsbeek, Netherlands
  • Provincial Museum voor Moderne kunst (PMMK), Oostende, Belgium
  • Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
  • Collection of the Ministry of the Flemish Community, Belgium
  • Collection of the Province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium
  • Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
  • John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Wisconsin, USA
  • Kohler Co. Collection, USA
  • Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
  • Museum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
  • Cultural Heritage Agency, Amersfoort, Netherlands

References
  1. "Brijs, Creten, Verfaillie en Verdonck genomineerd voor CultuurPrijzen". Het Belang Van Limburg. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  2. "Johan Creten, Plinny's Sorrow at Almine Rech Gallery". 20 May – 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  3. "Ambitieus programma Frysk Festival". Leeuwarder Courant. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  4. "La flamme de l'art". Evene. July 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  5. "Emmanuel Perrotin Wrap Up". The New York Times. 2 March 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  6. "Dubbelzinnige beelden van Johan Creten in Lakenhal". Sleutelstad. 1 February 2007. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  7. "FLOWERED FEMMES FLIRT WITH EXCESS". Miami Herald. 17 July 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  8. "Johan Creten at Robert Miller". Art in America. 1 October 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  9. "Musei Capitolini Così le porcellane di Sèvres hanno conquistato la modernità". Il Giornale. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  10. "Se prolonga la exposición de Lacroix". FashionUnited España. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  11. "Processie als opmaat naar tiende 'Sonsbeek'". de Gelderlander. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  12. "Dynamic ceramic". Evening Standard. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  13. "Elemental 'Dirt' a spectacular celebration of the elastic world of ceramics". The Denver Post. 20 February 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  14. Adelson, Fred B. (10 December 2000). "Putting Forth A New Face on Reality". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  15. "Bienal, katiliminizi bekliyor". Milliyet. 4 October 1997. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  16. "Marque déposée ou œuvre d'art?". Chronicart.com. 1 February 1998. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
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