Johan Creten : jouer avec le feu

Exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, 23 March - 22 September 2024

A Belgian artist based in Paris, Johan Creten (1963-) is a pioneer in the revival of ceramics in contemporary art. Since the 1980s, he has worked tirelessly with clay, developing innovative techniques. Conceived in Mexico or Miami, Rome or The Hague, his allegorical sculptures build a world full of poetry, lyricism and mystery, peopled with a social and political dimension.

This catalogue of the largest exhibition ever devoted to Creten brings together 120 sculptures - including eleven in the public space - drawings, objects and models. The book sheds light on Creten's artistic development, taking us into his creative process for the first time. The themes explored - physical and social violence, intolerance and racism - reflect the deep-rooted violence that permeates the artist's childhood, and which is reborn in a cathartic form in his works.