EXHIBITION / Johan Creten. Playing with fire

EXHIBITION / Johan Creten. Playing with fire

MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS until September 22, 2024

DOWNTOWN ORLÉANS until summer 2025

For his second exhibition of monumental sculptures, the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans invites internationally renowned sculptor Johan Creten to take over the public space and the museum.

The exhibition Johan Creten. Jouer avec le Feu is divided into two parts, highlighting forty years of artistic production by the Belgian artist, and taking visitors inside his creative process for the first time, starting with the sculptures on display in the city, which visitors can discover at the museum through drawings, preparatory studies and variants.
This captivating immersion offers an in-depth exploration of his work, revealing decades of inspiration and creation through his iconic works and new pieces.

THROUGH THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
The rooms of the museum house the beginnings of this artistic adventure. The four graphic arts cabinets reveal for the first time 73 drawings that take the visitor into the artist's creative process. These drawings are compared with preparatory studies, enabling visitors to follow the work carried out from the 1980s to the present day.
They are accompanied by objects, models and studies in ceramic and bronze that reveal the deep roots of the artist's principal sculptures, offering a unique visual testimony to his artistic evolution, hitherto little touched on in exhibitions devoted to him.
A series of ceramic sculptures completes this exploration of the collections, in dialogue with the museum's works.

URBAN DIALOGUE
The visitor's first encounter with the work of Johan Creten is in the public space, where the artist will be taking over the streets of Orléans until summer 2025 with 10 monumental bronze sculptures installed in squares, courtyards, parks and in front of the majestic cathedral.
Alongside famous works such as La grande Chauve-souris, already presented in Rome at the Villa Medicis, and in Paris at the Petit Palais, the exhibition unveils previously unseen fonts created for the show, such as La Grande Sauterelle and La Mouche Morte, whose imposing presence initiates an artistic dialogue imbued with ecological discourse.

Around the exhibition

Guided tours

Johan Creten in Orléans
The city of Orléans and the museum welcome the monumental works of Belgian artist Johan Creten, installed in different parts of the city. Take the tour accompanied by an interpreter.
Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.
Saturday, June 29 at 11 a.m.
RDV on the Musée des Beaux-Arts forecourt

Johan Creten at the Musée des Beaux-Arts
Accompanied by a mediator, enter the creative process of Belgian artist Johan Creten through the discovery of numerous works, sculptures and preparatory drawings presented at the museum.
Saturday, April 20 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 2 at 2 p.m.

Unusual tours

Secrets d'expo'!
Meet the technical management teams and discover the secrets of the Johan Creten temporary exhibition. Playing with fire. You'll learn all about the works on display and what goes on behind the scenes, including special handling and all that goes into an exhibition in a public space.
Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Art & Yoga - Greetings to Johan Creten
Enjoy a unique experience at the museum thanks to sessions combining the discovery of works of art and yoga postures with a mediator and the Fun & Yoga studio! In praise of shadow, light and nature in all its forms... Johan Creten's works invite us to take the time to observe them and discover all the mysteries of their material.
Thursday, May 16 or 30 at 6:30 p.m.

The little beasts by Johan Creten
With wings, tentacles or antennae, explore the works of artist Johan Creten installed in public spaces, who turns a small species weighing just a few milligrams into a sculpture weighing over a ton! So grab your sneakers and, with your parents, set off in search of these unusual works!
Saturday, April 20 at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 25 at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 29 at 4:30 p.m.

Self-guided tours

Visitors' booklet: discover Johan Creten's monumental sculptures
Go in search of the monumental sculptures with the booklet available in Orléans museums or directly on your smartphone by scanning the QR codes at the foot of the works.

Tours for young people and families
Scan the QR code or ask for your children's booklet at the museum and set off in search of the sculptures around town.

Workshops

A work, a workshop
A visual artist invites you to discover the works of Belgian artist Johan Creten, to enter into their stories, and then to make a creation linked to them. A technique, a color or a detail will be chosen to prolong the dialogue in the studio, in all simplicity and creativity!
Thursday, May 16 at 6 p.m.

Mini-workshop
Come and experiment and create around the sculptures of artist Johan Creten with your child in a comfortable and friendly setting.
Wednesday, May 29 at 11 a.m.

Maxi-atelier
Observe, decipher, test and create during this visit-workshop based on a work from the Johan Creten exhibition. Playing with fire.
Wednesday, May 15 at 2 p.m.

In the factory of Johan Creten
Bring the whole family into the Belgian sculptor's factory with a range of creative workshops. In turn, experiment and play around with his bestiary and surprising universes!
Tuesday, April 30 from 2 p.m.
Thursday, May 2 from 2 p.m.
Fridays May 3 and 10 from 2pm

Conference

Meeting with artist Johan Creten
Want to know all about the sculptures in Orléans? Take part in this meeting with artist Johan Creten and immerse yourself in his creative world.
Saturday, June 22 at 4 p.m.

Book I have a question I have a question