Peter Verhelst & Johan Tahon in conversation with Remco van Rijn
Interviewer
Remco van Rijn
Sculptor Johan Tahon and poet and author Peter Verhelst have been friends for over twenty years, ever since Tahon invited Verhelst to a dark factory space where he had installed his large plaster sculptures. Tahon will talk about the artists who have inspired him and his close relationship with his sculptures. Verhelst will speak about his deep belief in the power of images and the ways they can shape literature. Together, Tahon and Verhelst will talk about their passions. Verhelst will read poems that grew out of conversations with Tahon. There may even be some laughter, because that, too, is one of the foundations of their friendship.
Photography by: Stephan Vanfleteren
AUTHOR
Peter Verhelst
Peter Verhelst (1962, Bruges) is an award-winning Belgian author of poetry, novels and plays. He frequently collaborates with visual artists and filmmakers. He has worked with choreographer Wim Vandekeybus on productions including Blush, Sonic Boom and Nieuw Zwart. As a director, he was associated with NTGent.
His work has received numerous awards, including the Constantijn Huygens Prize, the Sybren Polet Prize, the Grote Poëzieprijs for Zabriskie, the Awater Poetry Prize for Zon, and the Gouden Uil for Tongkat, among others. He is currently working on the final version of a novel, due to be published in April 2027.
%20-%20fotograaf%20Francesco%20Zizola.jpg&w=1920&q=75)
Photography by: Francesco Zizola
ARTIST
Johan Tahon
Johan Tahon (b. Menen, Belgium, 1965) did not become a sculptor. He has always been a sculptor and always will be. For him, sculpture is like breathing. From a young age, he had already discovered that objects lent a lightness to the darkness of existence. Pain was his driving force, and yet each of the sculptures created by his hands afforded him a glimpse of the beauty of rebirth. Tahon was immediately hooked, went on to study sculpture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent, and was a player in the international art arena before the age of thirty. Since then, he has been journeying constantly in order never to arrive. He lives and works in Belgium.
Restless and filled with longing for the inexpressible, Johan Tahon explores the boundaries of the great unknown. Trusting in his material, technique and skill, he goes in search of the nothing that is at once everything in a manner that is as fearless as it is stubborn. Of a present that is also past and future. And of the silence that speaks volumes. Over the past few decades, Tahon has breathed life into an impressive sequence of mysterious bronze, plaster and ceramic sculptures: injured giants and unapproachable angels, tormented creatures and modest monks, sensual nudes and amorphous hybrids. All of these – whether they fit into the palm of a hand or reach up to a monumental height – float between the earth and the heavens.
%20Johan%20Tahon%20in%20kerkatelier%20te%20Rozebeke%20(2025)%20-%20fotograaf%20Vincent%20Lagae%20_1.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
.png&w=256&q=75)
