Johan Tahon: Adorant
In September and October the Belgian sculptor Johan Tahon (1965) presents his most recent ceramic sculptures at Gallery Gerhard Hofland. His intense sculptures mostly resemble human creatures with a strange anatomy: fused heads, distorted faces, bodies stretched or with fragmented limbs. They are made from raw, unfired clay or plaster covered in dripping high gloss white enamel, with a single color accent. Simultaneously his work is reminiscent of the classics: sculptures from ancient Greece and Byzantium, archetypal Egyptian, African and oriental sculptures, but also to the work of modern sculptors like Lehmbruck and Giacometti.
Tahon's sculptures often have an unpolished and unfinished look, as if they are in constant state of development. Also, the construction of the sculptures is still clearly visible. This visibility of the physical process is an essential part of the work of Tahon. The exhibited sculptures in the gallery are just the status quo of a process that is more inclusive, which is the complete mental and physical creative process that takes place in the artist's studio. The importance of Tahon's studio practice is underlined by an acquisition of some of his workshop, including a wall full of sketches and texts, tryouts in clay and sculptures, by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (MHKA). Tahon's studio's located both in Belgium and in Turkey are like temples in which he creates his own reality and where his sculptures are brought to live intuitively.
Much of what Tahon makes is supported by philosophical and metaphysical speculations. As with Giacometti, the sculptures of Tahon are not so much about their outward form, but about the inspiration and the issues that are contained in it. For Tahon sculpting is a necessary activity, a way of life. It is an existential experience in itself that consists of 'seeking and receiving', a magical interactive process between himself and his sculpted entities. In this process Tahon wants to make tangible existential issues and feelings. As they are frightening and unpleasant they become conceivable and bearable in the temporary physical form of a sculpture. For the viewer this makes Tahon's sculptures very expressive and often recognizable, offering them an intimate encounter with these intense emotions solidified into ceramics.
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In September and October the Belgian sculptor Johan Tahon (1965) presents his most recent ceramic sculptures at Gallery Gerhard Hofland. His intense sculptures mostly resemble human creatures with a strange anatomy: fused heads, distorted faces, bodies stretched or with fragmented limbs. They are made from raw, unfired clay or plaster covered in dripping high gloss white enamel, with a single color accent. Simultaneously his work is reminiscent of the classics: sculptures from ancient Greece and Byzantium, archetypal Egyptian, African and oriental sculptures, but also to the work of modern sculptors like Lehmbruck and Giacometti.
Tahon's sculptures often have an unpolished and unfinished look, as if they are in constant state of development. Also, the construction of the sculptures is still clearly visible. This visibility of the physical process is an essential part of the work of Tahon. The exhibited sculptures in the gallery are just the status quo of a process that is more inclusive, which is the complete mental and physical creative process that takes place in the artist's studio. The importance of Tahon's studio practice is underlined by an acquisition of some of his workshop, including a wall full of sketches and texts, tryouts in clay and sculptures, by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (MHKA). Tahon's studio's located both in Belgium and in Turkey are like temples in which he creates his own reality and where his sculptures are brought to live intuitively.
Much of what Tahon makes is supported by philosophical and metaphysical speculations. As with Giacometti, the sculptures of Tahon are not so much about their outward form, but about the inspiration and the issues that are contained in it. For Tahon sculpting is a necessary activity, a way of life. It is an existential experience in itself that consists of 'seeking and receiving', a magical interactive process between himself and his sculpted entities. In this process Tahon wants to make tangible existential issues and feelings. As they are frightening and unpleasant they become conceivable and bearable in the temporary physical form of a sculpture. For the viewer this makes Tahon's sculptures very expressive and often recognizable, offering them an intimate encounter with these intense emotions solidified into ceramics.
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