David Altmejd
David Altmejd
1974 -
David Altmejd is an internationally recognized artist known for his immersive sculptural installations. By combining a range of diverse materials such as polyurethane foam, glass eyes, synthetic hair, acrylic paint, graphite, ballpoint pen, plaster, resin, cloth, glitter and even light bulbs he creates post-apocalyptic objects and haunting spaces.

Born in Montreal in 1974, he completed his undergraduate studies at Université du Québec à Montréal and his MFA at Columbia University, New York. In part influenced by 19th century gothic novels, his early work utilized seductive grotesque imagery to create metamorphosed figures and body parts of animals and invented creatures. These beings eventually became actors in complex diorama-like constructions and installations, where shards of mirror are as commonplace as werewolf heads, stalactite forms and heads sprouting crystals. These environments stemmed from an intuitive approach and a vibrant imagination emerging from the unconscious. Like many artists of his generation (including Shary Boyle), Altmejd’s approach appears preoccupied with morbid themes, even death. Yet by exploring decomposition or metamorphosis his work reclaims regenerative and life-affirming forces.

Altmejd represented Canada at the 2007 Venice Biennale, exhibiting The Index, a large installation featuring a number of connected wood and steel structures filled with flocks of stuffed birds and squirrels as well as half-human, half-bird bodies. This show brought Altmejd significant international attention, and it was accompanied by a publication. This work was later purchased by the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Altmejd’s work has been exhibited at major international institutions, including at the Whitney Biennial of American Art (2004), the National Gallery of Canada (2010) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (2010). From 2014 to 2015, Flux, a large international survey exhibition traveled from Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris to the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal.
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