Solo exhibition - Sculptures face to face with the Mystic Lamb
In collaboration with Diocese Ghent and Studio23
Saint Bavo’s Cathedral and Saint Bavo’s House, Ghent (BE)
May 18 - October 5, 2025
Open: Friday from 13h till 17h, Saturday from 10h till 17h and Sunday from 13h till 17h,
during the Ghent Festivities (19-27 juli) open every day from 10h till 17h.
Entrance: 5 euro (-12 years free)

A journey through spirituality, connection, and the healing gaze of art

For visual artist Johan Tahon, the exhibition INTO THE EYES marks a symbolic milestone. Turning sixty this year, he reflects on a lifelong search for spirituality. He invites us to meet the gaze of his sculptures and open ourselves to the healing power of ‘good’ art – in other words, art that does us good.

Eye to eye with the mystical

Since childhood, mystical experiences have woven themselves through the life of Johan Tahon. It all began in St Bavo’s Cathedral, where he first encountered this healing force contemplating the Ghent Altarpiece (The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) by the Van Eyck brothers:

“I was six or seven and walked in there with my father. We headed straight to the Vijd Chapel, where I found myself eye to eye with The Mystic Lamb. In my memory, it’s winter. The chapel is dark. An elderly man opens and closes the side panels, slowly, rhythmically. My father and I are silent. We don’t look at each other, only at the Altarpiece. That shared gaze would bind us forever. From time to time, he points something out – a plant, a building. Nothing more. The silence, the measured and restrained way of speaking… I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it was extraordinary. Only later did I understand: my father had revealed that place to me. Through his quiet gesture, I had my first mystical experience. A unique moment of shared beauty that never returned. I haven’t been able to look into my father’s eyes for a long time. He died young; I turn sixty this year.”

Tahon’s encounter with the Ghent Altarpiece was a revelation that planted the seed for his later mystical experiences. Since then, the spiritual has run like a red thread through his life—sometimes unconsciously, sometimes by choice. In his studio in Turkey, he found intuitive inspiration in the nearby early Christian sites. In May 2021, he and his wife Eva met Pope Francis in the Vatican:

“The Pope and I looked long into each other’s eyes. That moment still resonates within me. Just like my first encounter with The Mystic Lamb, it held the same mystery – the silent power of being seen and seeing in return.”

Closer to home, in his studio within the medieval Church of Our Lady in Rozebeke, Tahon encounters spirituality in the daily act of creating. This former pilgrimage site – once fertile land belonging to the Abbey of St Peter in Ghent – is what he poetically calls the “Garden of Ghent”:

“In my studio, I am surrounded by 12th- and 13th-century sculptures. When I look into their deep, dark eyes, I recognize that same mystical gaze that does me good. Does art have the power to heal? Is that why I love medieval art so deeply? My experience tells me that good art – and especially good Christian art – disarms and points us toward the light, toward love.”

The path to INTO THE EYES

In his church-studio in Rozebeke, Johan Tahon spent hours speaking with Bishop Lode Van Hecke about the power of art that is good – and that does good. From those conversations, the desire grew to show his work and his collection in St Bavo’s House. With the warm support of the bishop and his colleagues, particularly Ludo Collin and Peter Vande Vyvere, this vision became reality.

Seeing INTO THE EYES come to life fills Tahon with gratitude. From his first mystical encounter with the Ghent Altarpiece, through soul-shaping years of creating in the “Garden of Ghent”, he returns to the heart of the city: St Bavo’s Cathedral. It is a milestone in an inspired journey that continues – quiet, spiritual, and filled with a healing sense of connection. You don’t just see it in his eyes. You see it through them.

Eye to eye with INTO THE EYES

The journey of INTO THE EYES begins in the cathedral where it all started. There, a sculpture by Johan Tahon fixes its gaze on The Mystic Lamb in an ultimate gesture of spiritual surrender:

“Once again, I stand in St Bavo’s Cathedral, eye to eye with the Altarpiece. But beside me stands not my father, but a being shaped by my own hands. The symbolism is unmistakable. The ritual repeats itself: I hope that my sculpture will absorb the healing gaze of The Mystic Lamb, be filled with its spirit, and pass it on. Passing on love is a sacred necessity, more than ever. Sometimes, all it takes is to stand eye to eye.”

In the nearby St Bavo’s House and its garden, Tahon presents works in plaster, bronze, and stoneware – authentic, earthly materials that, in his hands, become soulful. Their contemporary presence resonates across time and space with 12th- and 13th-century religious sculptures from his private collection. Those who dare to look into their deep, dark eyes may feel touched by a disarming gaze that awakens our longing for connection and meaning.

For all enquiries, please contact the gallery:
STUDIO23
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0499/30 39 84