Studio drawing of the work Niobe by Johan Tahon. Johan Tahon (Menen, 1965) is a Belgian visual artist. He works in Munkzwalm and also has a studio in Istanbul. After working for a number of years in abject poverty and without any recognition of his artistry, Tahon was discovered in 1995 by Jan Hoet, the then director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent (now S.M.A.K.). After this breakthrough, invitations to participate in exhibitions at home and abroad followed in quick succession and several of his sculptures were purchased by museums such as the S.M.A.K. (Ghent), the M HKA (Antwerp), the PMMK (Oostende), IKOB, Museum für Zeitgenőssische Kunst (Eupen), the Stedelijk Museum, (Amsterdam) and the GEM (The Hague). Johan Tahon is known for his tall plaster human figures, which are sometimes also cast in bronze for outdoor installation. For a while, polyester was also his preference and in recent years he has increasingly experimented with smaller ceramics over which he drips a white glaze.