Johan Tahon

Perseus Point
Entrance Gate Kattevennen

At the start of 2008 the city of Genk commissioned the artist Johan Tahon to produce a work that would create a symbolic bridge between C-Mine and Vennestraat in Genk. Tahon decided to make a large bronze Perseus. On 12th August 2009, during the night of the falling stars, the statue was installed in its temporary location at the Kattevennen Entrance Gate where it would remain until its final place was ready, following restoration and reconstruction works, in Vennestraat in Winterslag.

Johan Tahon strongly believes in the bond that exists between man, the world and the universe. To illustrate both the diversity and equality of the citizens of Genk he decided to create a contemporary Perseus. Perseus is a character in Greek Mythology whose figure has been immortalized as a constellation. And if there is one thing people have in common it is the star-spangled sky we see every night. What makes the bond between man, the earth and the universe even more complete is that the earth moves through the Perseid meteor shower every year. This meteor shower is a cloud of dust particles that come into collision with the earth’s atmosphere creating a strip of light in the sky and resulting in the ‘night of the falling stars’, which usually occurs halfway through August.

Johan Tahon named his work Perseus Point. ‘Point’ is a point, an identifying mark, a place where you make an appointment to meet, an indication, a meeting place, a place of transition, of linking C-Mine and Vennestraat. The bronze sculpture is 3.70 m high and both abstract and human. The body of this being points towards heaven but, through its two-headed form, seeks direct contact with the earth. It holds a spherical object in its left hand.
Tahon often works with distorted figures which maintain the human body as their basic shape. These manifestations indicate another world, a world of the unconscious and the unknown. When you look at Tahon’s sculptures it is as if they remind you of something you have forgotten.

Johan Tahon (b. 1965) studied sculpture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. He lives and works in Zwalm, Oudenaarde and Iznik (Turkey). His work is regularly exhibited in Belgium and abroad.

Foto's: Christophe Vander Eecken