"The Vivisector"

"An exhibition of Johan Creten's work at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery is an event; because it is Creten, a ceramic sculptor, an artist among artists; because it is at Emmanuel Perrotin, a leading French gallery owner, whose international success and flair are well known. The ensemble is striking in its narrative power, its formal variations and its discursive breaks.

From the outset, it is the shock of monumentality. Four large sculptures of over one meter and thirty centimeters in height, placed in dominant position and arranged in a cross shape, catch the visitor in a pincer. From these owls, with tightly clamped legs, bent as if in prayer, emerge massive heads that each have a different expression. For these large birds, waiting for a look, are also beings, sensitive, silent, astonished, sad, dreamy, severe, or affectionate. What is touching is that we can lend them feelings. This is due to the modeling but also to the enamel which acts like a skin, a veil, or a shroud. Each piece has a title, ‘Fatigue’, ‘the Father’, ‘the Nose’, and ‘the Vivisector’, which gave the exhibition its title."

Bernard Bachelier