David Altmejd’s work is a unique and heady mix of science and magic, science fiction and gothic romanticism.
Flux, a solo exhibition by artist, David Altmejd is supported by The Brant Foundation Art Study Center and Andrea Rosen Gallery.
David Kordansky Gallery is a contemporary art gallery with locations in Los Angeles and New York, representing more than fifty artists and artist estates.
Xavier Hufkens, Bruxelles BELGIUM - David Altmejd : Rabbits - 3 September > 10 Octobe, 2020 @XavierHufkens
David Altmejd creates sculptures that often blur the distinction between interior and exterior, surface and structure, representation and abstraction.
Posts about David Altmejd written by davidmc13
The Montreal artist on working with giant figures in Connecticut and creating a 'timeless' sculpture for the Montreal Museum of Fine Art
David Altmejd’s (°1974, Montreal) sculptural installations draw the viewer into the interior labyrinths of the subconscious. His deceptively realistic sculptures and dramatic stage sets, evoking gothi
Français en bleu From left to Right / de Gauche à Droite: David Altmejd, Josée Belisle, Jon Rafman & Marc Lanctôt Photos © Lena Ghio 2015 I have been covering exhibitions at the Montreal Museum of contemporary arts since 2002. I have seen many great shows and met many world renowned artist. This summer however I have been left spellbound! There are many reasons for my enchantment. One, it is the first time I see two unparalleled Montreal artists showcasing the excellence of our city's creators without the false timidity that has often prevented curators in Montreal to boast our best and brightest out of an misplaced sense of democracy! These two are an example of our BEST & BRIGHTEST! Bravo JOSÉE BESLILE and MARC LANCTÔT! The two exhibitions as a whole remind me of a phrase in one JORGE LUIS BORGES stories :"...the infinite, ceaseless chain of thousands of intertwined causes..." FRANÇAIS Depuis 2002 je couvre les expositions au Musée d'art contemporain de Montreéal. J'y ai vu de nombreuses expositions fabuleuses et j'y ai rencontré plusieurs artistes de renommée internationale. Cependant cet été je me retrouve envoûtée! Il y a plusieurs raisons pour mon enchantement. Une, c'est la première fois que je vois deux artistes Montréalais mettre en valeur l'excellence de nos créateurs sans la fausse timidité qui avait empêché certains de nos commissaires à exposer ce qu'il y a de meilleur chez nous au nom d'un concept démocratique mal placé. Ce sont là deux exemples de ce qu'il y a de MIEUX & DE PLUS BRILLIANT ici! Bravo JOSÉE BESLILE et MARC LANCTÔT! Les deux expositions juxtaposées me rappelent une phrase dans une histoire de JORGE LUIS BORGES :"... l'infinie, incessante chaine de millier de causes entremêlées..." DAVID ALTMEJD - FLUX On June the 19th 2015 the press met up @ MAC for the tour of this summer's exhibitions with the the artists and the curators. Left / Gauche David Altmejd speaking in front of / parlant devant Le Désert et la Semence, 2015. Centre detail. Right / Droite The Flux and The Puddle, 2014, detail/détail. Photos © Lena Ghio 2015 To consult the works / pour consulter les oeuvres: http://flux.macm.org/ I became aware of the work of the unique DAVID ALTMEJD in 2006 when attending the press conference to announce he had been chosen to represent Canada in the Venice Biennale. Right form the start I was struck with a rare quality in his work that is lacking in much of contemporary art, his work is alive. We spent several hours in the tour so we could ask many questions on many themes like his choice of materials, the hidden concepts at the heart of his artistic language, human perception. David Altmejd impressed me with his capacity to communicate fluidly on a variety of themes that influence him and his work. For example he explained his profound sensitivity to us, his melancholy at the rapid passage of time. This he cited as the core reason for working in New York at this stage of his life and profession. This reaction to feeling the passage of time is extremely visible in his sculptures. At one point as he his describing what goes through him as he is sculpting he said: " Then I infuse spirit into the substance. " This is exactly what I have always perceived about his sculptures and this is exactly what he intends for his work. When I shared with him that I had felt this spirit all along from his work, he described how his quest for realism is a heartfelt preoccupation for him, that he goes to the limits of his craftsmanship to bring it forth in his creations. He is an artist in touch with the multidimensional nature of life and he has the uncanny talent to embody the experience in matter. Visiting his work is like being in en unending exploration in a foreign land where one is constantly surprised by unexpected features in the landscape. FRANÇAIS Le 19 juin 2015 la presse s'est rassemblée au MAC pour la visite des expositions estivales avec les artistes et commissaires. One of my favorite rooms with Untitled 2 (Bodybuilders) in front of Le Trou, 2015, a piece he did In Situ. Une de mes pièces favorites avec Untitled 2 (Bodybuilders) devant Le Trou, 2015, une pièce réalisée In Situ. Photos © Lena Ghio 2015 Je suis devenue consciente du travail de l'unique DAVID ALTMEJD en 2006 à la conférence de presse qui annonçait qu'il avait été choisi pour représenter le Canada à la Biennale de Venise. Dès le début j'ai été frappée par une qualité rare dans son oeuvre qui est manquante dans la majorité de la production artistique contemporaine, son oeuvre est vivante. Nous avons passé quelques heures en visite alors on pouvait poser beaucoup de questions sur plusieurs thèmes comme ses choix de matériaux, les concepts cachés au coeur de son language artistique, la perception humaine. David Altmejd m'a impressionnée avec sa capacité de communiquer fluidement sur une variété de thèmes qui influencent son travail. Par exemple il nous a parlé de sa sensibilité profonde, de sa mélancolie au passage rapide du temps. Il a raconté que c'était la raison principale de son exile à New York à ce stage de sa vie et de sa profession. Cette réaction qu'a l'artiste au passage du temps est très visible dans ses sculptures. À un moment donné il raconte ce qui se produit en lui alors qu'il sculpte la matière: " Ensuite, j'infuse l'âme dans la substance. " C'est exactement ce que j'avais toujours perçu au sujet de ses sculptures et c'est exactement ce qu'il destinait pour elles. Quand j'ai partagé avec lui que j'avais ressenti l'âme de son oeuvre, il a décrit que sa quête pour le réalisme était une préoccupation sincère pour lui, qu'il va au bout de sa maîtrise pour le faire ressortir de sa création. C'est un artiste en contact avec la nature multidimensionnelle de la vie et il a le mystérieux talent d'incarner l'expérience dans la matière. Visiter son oeuvre est comme explorer une terre étrangère où on est constamment surpris par des facettes innatendues du paysage. JON RAFMAN JON RAFMAN is a startling revelation for me! I saw some of the photographs of his 9-eyes Google Street View in the homes of private collectors and I had seen his paintings at Papier 15 but I had no sense of the overwhelm created by viewing his videos in multiple dimensions like a visitor can do in this exhibition. We become mesmerized by the flow of human madness across the ages that he has captured so well in his various installations. We travel in virtual worlds like Second Life that narrate the multiple points of view of the participants that join in complex imaginary landscapes where Jon Rafman feels the groundlessness of the experiences of his generation, its difficulty in taking a meaningful political or moral stand because every conceivable form of experience assaults the attention of the virtual tourist. All forms of decadence, cruelty and meaninglessness flood the internet dimension and Jon Rafman takes it in and brings it out but we can tell he is not done searching. This makes him a very exciting creator, one I am very glad to have encountered. Left / Gauche Jon Rafman inside one of his pieces / à l'intérieur d'une de ses pièces Kool Aid Man in Second Life © 2009, Centre Marc Lanctôt, Right / Droite Oh the Humanity ( Waterbed ), 2015 Photos © Lena Ghio 2015 FRANÇAIS JON RAFMAN est une révélation boulversante pour moi! J'avais vu chez des collectionneurs privés des photographies de sa série 9-eyes Google Street View et j'ai vu ses toiles à Papier 15 mais je n'avais aucun sens du submergement créer par le visionnement de ses vidéos en de multiples dimensions comme un visiteur peut le faire dans cette exposition. On devient hypnotiser par le flot de la folie humaine à travers les âges qui est si bien capturée dans ses installations variées. On voyage dans les mondes virtuels de Second Life qui narre les perspectives multiples des participants qui se rejoignent dans les paysages imaginaires complexes où Jon Rafman ressent le sans-fondement de l'état actuel de sa génération et la difficulté qu'elle confronte à prendre une position politique ou morale significative à cause de tous les assauts concevables lancés à l'attention du touriste virtuel. Toutes les formes de décadence, de cruauté et de non-sens inondent la dimension internaute et Jon Rafman l'absorbe et le transmet mais on peut se rendre compte que sa quête n'est pas compléter. Ceci fait de lui un créateur très excitant, un que je suis heureuse d'avoir croisé. ALSO / &+ GENEVIÈVE CADIEUX is guest curator for The Eye and the Spirit Point of vue on the collection exhibition of the Museum's permanent collection that is ongoing. While JOHN ZEPPETELLI, the Museum director, presents new acquisitions GENEVIÈVE CADIEUX est commissaire invité de l'exposition L'Oeil et l'Esprit Point de vue sur la collection du Musée qui se continue. Alors que JOHN ZEPPETELLI, directeur du Musée, présente les nouvelles acquisitions. Catalogues for the exhibitions are available / Des catalogues d'exposition sont disponibles. -LENA GHIO
for his fourth solo exhibition at andrea rosen gallery, new york, canadian artist david altmejd hypnotizes visitors with large-scale monumental installations expanding over three exhibition spaces.
Sarah Trigg spent more than two years photographing the ateliers of 100 artists around the country for her new book Studio Life: Rituals, Collections, Tools, and Observations on the Artistic Process — including boldfaced names like Carol Bove, Rob Pruitt, Theaster Gates, Tauba Auerbach, and Nick Cave. And yet you won't see any of their actual artwork in its pages (we've added our own to the David Altmejd excerpt below), nor will you see any overall depictions of their spaces. That's because Trigg, an artist herself, took inspiration from the most important elements of her own Brooklyn studio and decided to exclusively zoom in on any residue, mascots, collected objects, rituals, makeshift tools, and architectural details she found during her visits. "I placed a lens on daily studio life without expecting artists to defend or explain their work," she writes of her process. "It was crucial, therefore, not to overshadow the results with portraits, artwork, or depictions of the overall grandeur of the studios — all of which have established venues for exposure elsewhere."
David Altmejd The Healers (detail) 2008 Wood, foam, plaster, burlap, metal wire, paint Installed dimensions 239 x 367 x 367cm work dimensions 206 x 326 x 326 plinth dimensions 33 x 367 x 367cm
Expanded polyurethane foam, cement, epoxy clay, epoxy gel, resin, steel, bronze, acrylic paint, cotton shirt, quartz, glass eyes, glass paint, graphite,…
In the lead-up to the 2013 Venice Biennale, which opens to the public on June 1, we have been digging through our archives to look at Canada’s past presentations there. In this instalment from our Summer 2007 issue originally titled “Giardini Birdland,” Christina Bagatavicius reflects on the development of David Altmejd’s work for that year’s […]
Documentation of David Altmejd at Musée D'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is featured on Contemporary Art Daily.
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