Catalog published in the wake of “Miroir Parlant”, an exhibition by Johan Creten with Lucien Petit and Hervé Rousseau and featuring six traditional Japanese ceramics.

For the exhibition “Talking Mirror”, Johan Creten delicately recreates the conditions for a dialogue between his own productions realized during his Residence at the Center Céramique Contemporaine de La Borne and six rare and important pieces, six historic Japanese ceramics from his collection, produced in some large traditional ovens like that of Tokoname and Shigaraki. Explore the possibilities of wood cooking, the mystery of the ashes and the rustic strength of the region... these were the leitmotifs.

This work invites visitors to immerse themselves and dive into the depths where light oscillates, between an invisible life where lie shapes never seen, unnamed creatures, colors of fire...

“At La Borne, we should return at every hour of the day and of the night to make the most of the effects produced on the works by the sunrises and the sunsets, the suns and the moons, the clouds and the showers of rain. We should observe the sculptures through the windows and the kakemonos, we should taste the Japanese lustres and the shadowy silhouettes, approach the incidences and refractions of this light which we too often believe exists to light up, while in fact it only exists for the sake of unveiling, of removing the veil from reality, or rather of playing with it. La Borne. The space in which the sculptures are kept resembles a temple. The incense and the gong are lacking. So are the sencha and the smoke. For how could we not see in these silent ensembles, where a meticulously crafted fineness competes with austere necessity, a visitation of the tea ceremony ? Everything seems to have emerged out of an immemorial, almost archaeological ritual. The works must be here and nowhere else. The world is situated. Beauty in situ. Presence of splendour. It cannot be otherwise.”

• TEXTS
  Sophie Auger-Grappin (Artistic Director of the Residency at La Borne)
  Colin Lemoine (Curator at Musée Bourdelle, Independant curator and art historian)
  Christine Shimizu (Heritage Curator)
  Translation: Beauty Words, Patrick Lennon  
  Language: French/English/Japanese

• FORMAT
  12 x 19,5 cm

  French format
  127 pages
  Hardcover

• PRINT
  Graphius, Gent, Belgique

• COPIES
  1st printed edition of 1.000 copies
  Including 100 special editions with case

• ISBN 978-2-9554245-1-3

• Published by
  Creten Studio