Pavlov's Dogs: Johan Creten's free exhibition at Galerie Perrotin in September

Johan Creten revitalizes aging machines at Galerie Perrotin. In "The Pavlov Dogs," the Belgian artist fuses family memories, ceramics, bronzes, and obsolete computers to probe our automatisms in a free, open exhibition you can discover in the Marais from September 5 to October 10, 2026.

An 1980s computer wall at Perrotin? Johan Creten clearly intends to wake a few old machines. For "Les Chiens de Pavlov", running from 5 September to 10 October 2026 in the Marais, the artist digs up part of a collection painstakingly amassed over more than four decades by his father, a devotee of new technologies. Once vitrines of progress, these devices now stack up like fossils from a future that has aged poorly. Behind their powered‑down screens, Creten brings to light questions of memory, transmission and faith in technology.

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Along this wall, the exhibition changes material but not its edge: ceramics, bronzes, drawings and sculptures take over. Some older works even move to a higher casting, as in Miami Eagle / Le Con-dort, created in glazed stoneware in 2002 and presented here in bronze. Creten stirs up power, avarice, corruption, fate and human vulnerability, while a section devoted to the seven virtues invites a slower pace. The title echoes Pavlov’s conditioning experiments: a reference the artist twists to probe our reflexes, our automatism, and the speed with which certain images prompt a reaction.

The matter, Johan Creten knows it inside out. The Belgian sculptor is among those who helped bring ceramics back to the forefront of contemporary art. After stints in Mexico, Rome, Miami, and The Hague, he now works in Montreuil, at La Solfatara, a vast shared studio with Jean-Michel Othoniel. He reunites with Perrotin Paris after How to Explain the Sculptures to an Influencer ?, showcased in 2024.

The free exhibition “Les Chiens de Pavlov” will be unveiled at the Galerie Perrotin Paris Marais from September 5 to October 10, 2026. The opening reception is scheduled for September 5 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.