Brainchild of sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot in the 19th century, the La Garenne-Lemot domain is a 13-hectare (32-acre) estate overlooking the Sèvre River and the town of Clisson, nestled amidst the region’s vineyards.
In La Garenne, Lemot created an idyllic and idealized landscape where he transposed memories from a trip he made to Rome in the late 18th century. Ornaments (statues, a cave, a temple, columns, gravestones…) create a landscape-sized composition that juxtaposes Italy with traces of local history.
After Eva Jospin, who added her permanent work Bois de la Gorgone in 2021, Johan Creten has been invited to create a dialogue with the estate and to set up a new workshop there for two years. He will present his work in a broader context during a 2024 solo show in the estate villa, sponsored by the Loire-Atlantique region.
Creten has worked with bronze (and ceramics) since the late 1990s, employing it for its symbolism, history, and material qualities.
Using bronze has allowed the artist to create monumental works in recent years: massive birds, extremely tall columns, benches, and more. Upon seeing these sculptures, new interpretations or meanings always appear because they do not aim at a precise imitation of an object or living being, but at revealing a plethora of meanings stemming from references drawn from both natural history and art history.
La Grande Colonne (“The Great Column”) was first made of marble powder and resin in 2010, and was on display at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp, Belgium for a decade.
Today, this majestic, 5-metre tall (16 ft.) sculpture can be seen for the first time in bronze outside the workshops and landscaped gardens of Parc de la Garenne-Lemot.
Johan Creten was born in 1963 and lives and now works in Montreuil, France. He is represented by Galerie Perrotin (Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo), Galerie Almine Rech (Paris, Brussels, London, New York) and Galerie Transit (Mechelen).
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DÉPARTEMENT LOIRE-ATLANTIQUE.
4 Rte de Poitiers, 44190 Gétigné
How to get there?
Open today from 09h00 to 19h30.
From july 1st 2023 to june 30th 2025
from 09h00 to 19h30 on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday
Free access during park opening hours
April to September: 9am-7.30pm.
October to March: 9am-6pm.
A 600-metre walkway at ground level via the Raymond-Leray passageway