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Observatorium
Powerful authenticity and greedy mastery.Johan Tahon may still be relatively unknown to a wider audience, but he is steadily coming to occupy an important place in contemporary art. As a child of his time, through his authenticity and mastery, as well as his control of materials and techniques, he makes work that leaves no one unmoved – not even internationally, for Tahon's work is multicultural and transcends borders. He has also been exhibiting regularly abroad since 1994 and searches the whole world to find materials for his work. His interest in Sufi mysticism and Islamic art took him to Iznik in Turkey, where he now has a studio and works closely with specialists in Ottoman quartz ceramics.Johan Tahon works on the basis of an enormous sincerity and a mastery of his own being. He works spontaneously, without a pre-conceived plan, without preparatory sketches. He works on three or four different sculptures at the same time. Depending on his mood and his affinity with the material, he links limbs, combines heads and trunks, removes, adds and transforms. His sculptures are never finished, always in motion. They look shaky, vulnerable and transient. Once you have seen them you will not easily forget them. Jan Van Hove (De Standaard) put it like this: 'An impressive series of tormented and pained giants, as well as very tender, serene and unapproachable figures, is gradually building up behind the artist. Tahon works on the basis of a love of art that seems to belong to another time. He generously invests his whole personality in his sculptures because he realises that "a certain form of warmth and emotion that people give one another can also radiate from things that look like people".'And you will find all that in this beautiful book, which brings together contributions by different authors as a book in the book. Books that each tell the story of Johan Tahon in words and images in their own way. Paul Depondt provides an in-depth but crystal-clear and highly readable essay in which he approaches Tahon as Sartre once approached Giacometti. Wim Van Mulders situates Tahon and his work in the great tradition of Rodin, Brancusi, Lehmbruch, Giacometti and Beuys, focusing on the sculpture itself and how it blends with the artist. Peter Verhelst, who has been a good friend of Tahon for years, has written a series of impressive poems especially for this book. Stephan Vanfleteren enriches it with photographs of Tahon in Iznik, while Mirjam Devriendt photographs Tahon's studio, a work of art in itself and the place where his work is at its best.This book is an experience thanks to the content, the design and the approach of the authors. This book is a work of art just as Tahon's studio is one.
2008 300 x 230cm 240 pp 150 Hardcover Dutch, English ISBN 978-90-5544-753-4 Euro 24,90