About the work

In the Three Fountains Grove, David Altmejd has installed two sculptures, each of which evokes powerful beings, juxtapositions of seduction and monstrosity. “I feel that things only really exist when they are paradoxical,” says Altmejd. A werewolf, embodying sudden transformation and the release of uncontrollable forces, is seated cross-legged like a sage. An anthropomorphic sculpture composed of hands moving the very matter from which they are made, represents a demiurgic spirit caught in a quasi-erotic carnal relation with its own creation. The artist likes the idea that “very intense energy can be contained in an object.” His hybrid creatures bring together grotesque and abject elements to explore worlds of dreams, nightmares, science, and fantasy.

About the artist

Born in 1974 in Montreal, Canada, David Altmejd lives and works in New-York, United States of America.

Drawing equally on his interests in biology and mythology, David Altmejd combines the world of science with that of animist traditions and ancient legends in his work. Altmejd invents myths, and each of his series of sculptures may be considered as an allegory of a key moment in the creation of the world. The artist is, above all, a fervent admirer of the forces at work in nature and aims to “create art as chaos creates nature”. Thus, in his own way, he re-enacts stories of creation using heterogeneous elements, in the form of materials or symbolic references. In his own words, “An object needs to contain contrasting elements in order to feel like it exists…an object that contains two opposing poles is vibrating and is much more alive.”

The artist website