JOHAN CRETEN: LES CHIENS DE PAVLOV

Miami Eagle / Le Con-dort, 2002 - 2026

Perrotin is pleased to present Les Chiens de Pavlov the eleventh solo exhibition by Belgian artist Johan Creten.

September 5 – October 10, 2026

Johan Creten’s father had a particular obsession. Fascinated by the emerging technologies of the 1980s, he amassed, over more than four decades, a vast collection of early computers that, as the artist recalls, “occupied not only dedicated storage spaces but every available corner: stacked upon furniture, hidden behind curtains, piled one upon another in an almost archaeological density.”

Roughly around the time his father began assembling his private collection, Creten started building his own artistic vocabulary, one he has continued to expand, revisit and transform ever since. Flowers take shape of feminine body, ancient myths become commentaries on the present, words turn into wordplay, while familiar works—such as Miami Eagle / Le Con-dort (2002-2026), a bronze sculpture first conceived in glazed stoneware in Florida twenty-four years ago— reappear in new contexts.

Bolders - Seven Virtues (English version), 2025 - 2026

In challenging himself, Creten challenges the viewer as well. As in many of his exhibitions, seating elements —this time dedicated to the seven virtues—appear in the rooms. He creates the conditions for contemplation, and in itself that is already a generous gesture.

The final room presents a group of abstract works, creating an atmosphere detached from personal memory and the turbulence of the contemporary world. The divine and the spiritual might appear to offer a moment of respite, but even when accompanied by the hope for a better future, they also carry a question mark. The most important lesson Creten leaves us with is to distrust automatic responses.