This Belgian Sculptor Brings His Mythical Bestiary To The Streets Of Orléans

Johan Creten has a masochistic streak. In the 1980s, when ceramics were scorned by the art world's elite, the Belgian-born, Paris-based maverick gravitated to the unpopular ceramics workshop at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Gant to turn wet and humble clay into poetry. , a disturbing and mysterious art imbued with a socio-political dimension. Nobody wanted to exhibit his work at the time, but he was not discouraged and was one of the first to remove the boundaries between sculpture and ceramics, paving the way for a new generation of young artists to use clay in art contemporary

Asked why he hasn't grown tired of the medium four decades later, Creten says, “I have to like suffering.” Ceramic art is a long and arduous process when you consider the time required between conception and final creation that incorporates countless stages: modeling, drying, firing, glazing and maintaining emotion and concentration during this long period . “Working with clay is feeling in touch with something primordial, primitive and ancient,” he reveals. “I like its wetness and dirtiness.”

Continuing to get his hands dirty, the artist, known for his repertoire of tortuous and powerful forms, both seductive and repulsive, brings together 40 years of experience, from ceramics that pioneered contemporary sculpture in the early years eighty to the bronze he made. it began to be used in the 2000s, in his two-part exhibition, “Playing with Fire,” which took place in Orleans, in central France. Taking over the streets of the city that Joan of Arc saved from the English siege in 1429, Cretena immerses visitors in her universe through 11 monumental bronze sculptures that occupy the public space, between squares, courtyards, parks and in front of the majestic cathedral. make art accessible to everyone.

Alongside crowd favourites, such as 'The Bat' or 'The Great Vivisector' which you can climb on or sit on, the exhibition discovers never-before-seen sculptures created especially for the exhibition, such as 'The Locust' or 'The Dead Fly “. Cretena's interpretation of animals is always open. “You have to feel them rather than understand them as an analysis of a subject,” he says. “You have to let the emotions wash over you when you look at them. You could almost say they're different views of human existence. It's never about the animal, it's about what the animal says about humans, where the animal is in fact a representation of human behavior.”

At the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans, viewers can see for the first time behind the scenes the creative process of Cretena, echoing her sculptures on display in the city, through unpublished drawings and preparatory studies. . Opening her precious sketchbooks to reveal the source of her creations, drawing has long been the intimate, cathartic and hidden part of her practice, in which her vulnerabilities appear, but which forms a step integral to its process. His extensive research on paper has sometimes preceded the production of his most famous works by several decades. It is accompanied by objects, models and studies in ceramics and bronze that reveal the deep roots of his sculptures, focusing on a rare visual record of his artistic development that has received little attention in his previous exhibitions.

This captivating dive offers a deep dive into Cretena's work, giving complete access to years of inspiration behind her iconic and new pieces. Various ceramic pieces such as “Odore di Femmina”, “Les Femmes Sans Ombres” and “The Cocks” complete this exploration, examining themes such as physical and social violence, intolerance and racism, and are brought into dialogue with the collections of the museum As the title of the exhibition indicates, Cretena's artistic process always involves fire: the fire of ceramics and bronze, the fire of life and the sensitive subjects to which she refers in her work. Discover “Playing with Fire” now on the streets of Orléans until the summer of 2025 and at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans until September 22, 2024.