David Altmejd makes sculptures that do not reference a single object, they reference the entire universe. His inspiration is life and all the living things in our physical world, mountains, streams, rivers, plants, and trees. There is a little bit of life in everything, and that is his mantra. This philosophy helps him to overcome the distinctions of the soul inside the sculpture and the external body, the only visible one. When it comes to style, Altmejd places his work between figurative and abstract.
Altmejd attended Université du Québec à Montréal and later continued his education at the Columbia University, where he graduated with MA in Fine Arts. David Altmejd has been producing work continuously, through his studies, and especially when he graduated. He participated in many group shows. What was a personal breakthrough for him, is the participation at the 8th International Istanbul Biennale in 2003. Just a year later he was included as a cooperator at the USA Whitney Biennale of American Art. The crown of the biennale success was his representation of Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2007. He competed with the installation called The Index, which is one of his largest pieces. Index was made of steel, plexiglass, glass, silicone, taxidermy birds and animals, trees, hair, even jewelry, and glitter! He assembled this piece by connecting elements to steel structures. The purpose of mirrors was to make the viewer experience the assemblage even larger. That is what Altmejd usually does, he challenges the viewer to come close, and when he arrives, he transcends into another universe. Also, the mirrors are carefully placed, to the viewer could see his or her reflection, and have the impression that he/she is the part of the experience. He likes to use his art in contemporary purposes and in 2016 he designed the album cover for the alternative rock band Yeasayer’s album.
A year after the Venice Biennale, in 2008, David Altmejd made one of his most delicate and tactful pieces. The Healers is a large piece, over two meters, made of wood, plaster, and foam. The accent was on human interaction, on physical contact, on the closeness that heals. The figures exude dynamic energy and warmth of human touch. Their features almost overlap and their elements intertwine. The hands are touching, figures are kissing, standing up, kneeling, filled with passion and lust. The positions they are in are suggestive and powered with desire for connection. The artist carefully combines contemporary elements, sometimes inspired by graffiti, other times by consumer and popular culture, with classical elements, baroque essentials, and religious motive. Together the elements shine in cohesion, apart they represent a random group of objects. However, every single one of the objects has a symbolic reference. They are the ones that give hints and clues, to the viewer could have a coherent story.
David Altmejd’s creations are comprehensive objects with many stories to tell. What they represent and what is hidden under the surface transcends the simple symbolic references. Altmejd also does not like to leave any obvious clues. He likes to dedicate the carrying power of the idea to the material, so every type of matter from his large diapason has a certain story to tell. It is probably more obvious when it comes to flowers, mirrors, birds, and animals. But even foam, plastic, human clothes, everything that was ever found in his sculptures was there with intention and explanation. Idea and concept are not his main interests. It is the bare act of making, of creation that motivates him. That is the reason he puts meaning in the second place. The theme Altmejd creates under is placed somewhere between a universal need for purpose, human emotion, sexuality, the circle of life, beginnings and ends.
All images courtesy of the artist
Year | Exhibition Title | Gallery/Museum | Solo/Group |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Geants | Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2016 | L’air | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2015 | The Flux and the Puddle | Louisiana Museum, Denmark | Solo |
2015 | The Flux and the Puddle | Galerie Rene Blouin, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2015 | Faces | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Solo |
2015 | Flux | Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2015 | Juices | Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
2015 | A Brief History of the Future | Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2015 | Possible Collection | Honolulu, Zurich, Switzerland | Group |
2015 | The Art Of Our Time | The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angels, CA | Group |
2015 | Rock Hound Swap Meet | Junior Projects, New York, NY | Group |
2014 | Flux | Musee d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France | Solo |
2014 | The Grace of a Gesture: Fifty Years of Gifts | Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2014 | Love Story - Anne & Wolfgang Titze Collection | Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria | Group |
2014 | Hybrides | Galerie Sophie Scheidecker, Paris, France | Group |
2014 | Man in the Mirror | The Walter Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2014 | Lone Tree | Marlborough Chelsea | Group |
2014 | Homecoming | Galerie Division, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2014 | Elevated: Contemporary Art in the AGO Tower | The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada | Group |
2014 | Astralis | Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris, France | Group |
2014 | Misled by Nature | Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada | Group |
2014 | States of mind | Maison Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2014 | David Altmejd, Roni Horn, Didier Vermeiren, Dahn Vo | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2014 | The Body Metonymic | Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, MI | Group |
2014 | Hybrides & Chimeres: La conquete d’un reve eveille (Hybrids & Chimeras – The Conquest of a Waking Dream) | Musee Goya de Castres, Tarn, France | Group |
2013 | David Altmejd | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2013 | Chambres a Part VIII: Voir est un fable (Seeing is a Fable) | Laurence Dreyfus Art Consulting, Paris, France | Group |
2013 | Science of Dreams | The Arsenal Montreal, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2013 | A mes amies les licornes (To My Unicorn Friends) | Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2013 | Jew York | Zach Feuer Gallery and Untitled, New York, NY | Group |
2013 | My Little Paradise | Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, Belgium | Group |
2013 | Theatrical Gestures | Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel | Group |
2013 | Builders: Canadian Biennial 2012 | National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada | Group |
2013 | Inside Out and from the Ground Up | MOCA Cleveland, Cleveland, OH | Group |
2013 | Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque | The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada | Group |
2013 | Pothole | Salon 94 Bowery, New York, NY | Group |
2013 | ZOO | Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2013 | Figures from the New World | Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland | Group |
2013 | Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination | Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN | Group |
2012 | David Altmejd | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Solo |
2012 | Group Exhibition | L’Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France, La Belle et la Bete | Group |
2011 | David Altmejd | Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT | Solo |
2011 | Conte crepusculaire (Twilight Tale) | Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2011 | David Altmejd | Pierre Lapointe | Solo |
2011 | David Altmejd | Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
2011 | Mondes inventes - Mondes habites (Invented Worlds – Inhabited Worlds) | Mudam Luxembourg | Group |
2011 | Barroco Nova: Neo-Baroque Moves in Contemporary Art | Museum London, London, Ontario, Canada | Group |
2011 | HabiteR | Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, France | Group |
2011 | Night Scented Stock | Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2011 | The House Without the Door | David Zwirner, New York, NY | Group |
2011 | Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture | Saatchi Gallery, London, UK | Group |
2011 | Mystere, Mysteres | Flaran Abbey, Gers, France | Group |
2011 | Everything You Can Imagine is Real… | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2011 | Der Traum vom Fliegen - The Art of Flying | Haus Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2010 | Le guide | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2010 | Colossi | Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2010 | Surrealist Conspiracy | High Museum of Art, Wieland Pavilion Skyway Galleries, Atlanta, GA | Group |
2010 | It is what it is. Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art | National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada | Group |
2010 | Visceral Bodies | Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada | Group |
2010 | 10 ans, un musee, un Frac, une collection (Ten Year Permanent Collection) | Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, France | Group |
2010 | Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection | New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY | Group |
2010 | Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY | Group |
2010 | Alpha Omega: Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection | DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece | Group |
2009 | David Altmejd | Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France | Solo |
2009 | David Altmejd | Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
2009 | Performance - Art | Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX | Group |
2009 | Collection: MOCA's First 30 Years | The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA | Group |
2009 | Between Spaces | P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY | Group |
2009 | Sobey Art Award 2009 | Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada | Group |
2009 | Saint-Nazaire Biennale | Nantes, France | Group |
2009 | DreamTime – Temps du Reve. Grottes, Art | Mas d’Azil Prehistoric Cave, Toulouse, France | Group |
2009 | Emporte-moi - Sweep-me off my Feet | Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec, Canada | Group |
2008 | David Altmejd | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Solo |
2008 | Doctor Atomic | Gallery Met at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, NY | Solo |
2008 | Without Walls | Museum 52, New York, NY | Group |
2008 | Liverpool Biennial | Tate Liverpool, UK | Group |
2008 | Freeway Balconies | Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2008 | Lustwarande ‘08-Wanderland | Fundament Foundation, Tilburg, The Netherlands | Group |
2008 | Legende, curated by | Chateau et dans les fabriques du Domaine Departemental de Chamarande, France | Group |
2008 | The Quebec Triennial | Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2008 | Installations: Selections from the Guggenheim Collections | Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain | Group |
2008 | Intrus - Intruders | Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec, Quebec City, Canada | Group |
2008 | Second Thoughts | Hessel Museum of Art & CCS Galleries, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York | Group |
2007 | David Altmejd Stages | Fundacio La Caixa Museum, Barcelona, Spain | Solo |
2007 | David Altmejd: The Index | Canadian Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy | Solo |
2007 | David Altmejd | Solo | |
2007 | David Altmejd - Metamorphose | Oakville Galleries, Gairloch Gardens, Ontario, Canada | Solo |
2007 | David Altmejd - Metamorphose | Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2007 | David Altmejd - Metamorphose | Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art & Design, Calgary, Canada | Solo |
2007 | Star Power: Museum as Body Electric | Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO | Group |
2007 | The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation | Spertus Museum, Chicago, IL | Group |
2007 | David Altmejd, Renate Anger, and Eric Cameron | Birch Libralato, Toronto, Canada | Group |
2007 | Effigies | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Group |
2007 | Fractured Figure - Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection | DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece | Group |
2007 | To Build A Fire | Rivington Arms, New York, NY | Group |
2007 | Disorder in the House | Walter Vanhaerents Collection, Brussels, Belgium | Group |
2006 | David Altmejd - Metamorphose | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Solo |
2006 | Six Feet Under: Autopsy of Our Relationship to the Dead | Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland | Group |
2006 | The Eighth Square: Gender, Life, and Desire in Art Since 1960 | Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany | Group |
2006 | The Guggenheim Collection | Kunsthalle Bonn, Bonn, Germany | Group |
2006 | The Dining Room Show | Andrea Rosen Gallery, Amagansett, NY | Group |
2006 | A Brighter Day | James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2005 | The Builders | Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium | Solo |
2005 | Blake & Sons. Alternative Lifestyles and Mysticism in Contemporary Art | Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College, Cork, Ireland | Group |
2005 | L’echo des limbes | Galerie Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2005 | The Zine Unbound: Kults, Werewolves and Sarcastic Hippies | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA | Group |
2005 | The The | Stuart Shave - Modern Art, London, UK | Group |
2005 | Ideal Worlds. New Romanticism in Contemporary | Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany | Group |
2005 | David Altmejd, Mathew Cerletty, Kirsten Everberg, Alisa Margolis and Sophie Van Hellermann | Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France | Group |
2004 | David Altmejd | Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
2004 | Noctambule | Fondation Dosne – Biblioteque Thiers, Paris, France | Group |
2004 | Whitney Biennial 2004 | Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY | Group |
2004 | Scream: 10 Artists X 10 Writers X 10 Scary Movies | Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2003 | David Altmejd | Galerie Optica, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2003 | Sarah Altmejd | Galerie SKOL, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
2003 | Material Eyes | LFL Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2003 | Licht | Art Forum Berlin, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2003 | 8th Istanbul Biennial | Istanbul Turkey | Group |
2003 | Detournements | Maison de la Culture Cote-des-Neiges, Montreal, Canada | Group |
2003 | Now Playing: Daniel Reich Gallery, John Connelly Presents, K48 | D’Amelio Terras Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2003 | Life - Like | Apartment 5BE Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2002 | Clear Structures for a New Generation | Ten in One Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
2002 | Demonclownmonkey | Artist Space, New York, NY | Group |
2002 | Lucky Draw | Deitch Projects, New York, NY | Group |
2001 | Interval: New Art for New Space | Sculpture Center, New York, NY | Group |
2001 | How I learned to stop worrying and love the recession | Ten in One Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
2001 | Point de chute (Somewhere to Stay) | Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal, Canada | Group |
1999 | Models of the Spirit and Inner Gardens | Galerie B-312, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
1998 | Jennifer | Galerie Clark, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
1998 | Table n°2 | Galerie SKOL, Montreal, Canada | Solo |
1998 | Stimuli | Maison de la culture frontenac, Montreal, Canada | Group |
1998 | Artifice ‘98 | Saidye Bronfman Art Center, Montreal, Canada | Group |
1998 | Les Bricolos | Galerie Clark, Montreal, Canada | Group |