Johan Creten. Naked Roots

"His sculptures inhabit a space between worlds, an intercept of surreal and expressionist, erotic dream and brutal physicality." - Claudia Barbieri, The New York Times. "Creten's work speaks to the storm within us all, as individuals and as a society, and deals with his usual themes: nature, the female form, power, politics and spirituality." - Gay Gassmann, T Magazine, The New York Times. Together with Lucio Fontana and Thomas Schütte, Johan Creten is considered one of the pioneers of the revival of ceramics in contemporary art. He has been using clay in a highly innovative manner since as far back as the 1980s. His sculptures contain numerous, often ambiguous, references and meanings, which he encourages viewers to determine themselves through observation. Influenced by man and nature, classical antiquity, art history, opera, literature, and poetry, and by more current, socially charged subjects such as politics, racism, power relations, and sexuality, Johan Creten moulds his impressions into a world filled with fantastic animals, flowers, and human figures. This book includes nine historical objects from Creten's collection that relate to his groundbreaking oeuvre. It is published on the occasion of the exhibition Naked Roots/Naakte Wortels, which features 50 large-scale works on display at museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague, 1 June-30 September 2018.

Text in English and Dutch.

EN - Together with Lucio Fontana and Thomas Schütte, Johan Creten is considered one of the pioneers of the revival of ceramics in contemporary art. He has been using clay in a highly innovative and personal manner since as far back as the 1980s. His beautifully coloured sculptures contain numerous (ambiguous) references. Influenced by man and nature, classical antiquity, art history, opera, literature, and poetry, complemented with more current, socially charged subjects such as politics, racism, power relations, and sexuality, Johan Creten moulds all these impressions into a wonderful world filled with fantastic animals, flowers, and human figures. His work is stunningly beautiful and, at times, very controversial. This book contains nine exceptional historical objects from Creten's collection that relate to his groundbreaking oeuvre.

This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Naked Roots/Naakte Wortels in museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague. Explanatory text by Joost Bergman, art historian, art advisor, and lecturer in art history at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

NL - Johan Creten wordt samen met Lucio Fontana en Thomas Schütte beschouwd als een voorloper in de revival van keramiek binnen de hedendaagse kunst. Al sinds de jaren 1980 gebruikt hij klei op een hoogst vernieuwende en persoonlijke manier. Zijn prachtig gekleurde sculpturen zitten vol met (dubbelzinnige) verwijzingen. Beïnvloed door mens en natuur, de klassieke oudheid, kunstgeschiedenis, opera, literatuur, poëzie, aangevuld met meer actuele, maatschappelijk beladen onderwerpen zoals politiek, racisme, machtsverhoudingen en seksualiteit, boetseert Johan Creten al die indrukken tot een wonderbaarlijke wereld vol fantasiedieren, bloemen en mensfiguren. Zijn werk is beeldschoon en soms zeer controversieel. Het boek bevat negen bijzondere historische objecten uit Cretens verzameling die in relatie staan tot zijn grensverleggende werk.

Dit boek werd gepubliceerd naar aanleiding van de tentoonstelling Naked Roots / Naakte Wortels in museum Beelden aan Zee in Den Haag. Begeleidende tekst door Joost Bergman, kunsthistoricus, kunstadviseur en docent kunstgeschiedenis aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.