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Life, Death and
Transformation
The Conceptual Explorations of David Altmejd Montreal-born David Altmejd (pronounced “Altmade”) has been one of the hottest names in Canadian art since he was chosen to represent Canada at the 2007 Venice Bienniale. But Mr. Altmejd is by no means new to the international art scene. Despite being only 32 years old, he already has an international reputation and is represented by influential galleries in both London and New York, between which he divides his time.
"Sans Titre - L'Idée dure de l'homme lui sort par
la tête." At the opening of his 2007 show at the Illingsworth Kerr Gallery in Calgary, Canada, I introduced myself, spoke with him for a few minutes, and arranged to take some photos of his work the following day. Then I thanked him and joined the crowd of people who had come for his personal introductory tour of the works on display.
" The Hunter" © David Altmejd The show featured five original works that more or less traced the development of Altmejd’s creative vision since the late nineties. To this end the earliest of the works, “Sans Titre – L’idée dure de l’homme lui sort par la tête.1999” was displayed next to the most recent piece, which bore the same name except for the date, and expressed the same idea, but in a lexicon that had evolved substantially since the earlier work. His piece "Second Werewolf-Loup Garou 2 ", created in 2000, combines gothic and modernist forms to create an elaborate mausoleum for a fallen symbol of transformation, the dismembered body of a werewolf. Through a window in the base of the installation one is presented with a complex and seemingly endless array
of mirrored three-dimensional spaces,each one containing a different view of the werewolf's howling head. The upper structure consists of clear Plexiglas cases displaying, among other things, selected werewolf body parts rendered in moulded resin, animal hair, and a plethora of other materials. All of the head and body parts appear to have crystals growing from them, alluding to an endless cycle of transformation of which the cycle of birth and death is seen as but one aspect.
Detail of "Second Werewolf - Loup-Garou 2"  The next piece, chronologically, in this exhibit is "The Lovers", created in 2004. Here Altmejd presents us with what appears to be the crystal-encrusted remains of two male werewolves, lying one behind the other on a pale green plinth, or platform, where they have apparently died in their sleep, huddled together as if to keep warm.
The werewolves' lower arm and hand bones hang directly over a recessed box, casting shadows eerily down it's sides and across it's floor. A delicate gold chain runs between the bones, perhaps symbolizing the love shared by these two figures, and asserting it's continuation, even through the transformative processes of death and decay.
"The Lovers" (Detail) Again there is a Plexiglas case displaying werewolf body parts and other relics, and an enclosed space with a window through which one can see a maze of mirrored images, this time of foot bones, presumably from the werewolves' remains. Probably the most impressive piece in the show is "The Hunter", created in 2006. It features what appears to be a giant severed head lying on the ground, flat side down, in a state of transformative decay. Crystals and
"The Hunter" © David Altmejd vegetation seem to be growing from it, and squirrels run playfully over its outer surface. A large entrance-like opening in the front of the piece reveals a cavernous interior with fetish paraphernalia lying about the floor and hanging on the walls, and penis-like stalagmites hanging from the ceiling.
Moving around the piece, one can peer through several other openings to see illuminated staircases and kaleidoscopic mirrored chambers, which seem to belie and transcend the spatial context in which they exist. The five pieces of Altmejd's exhibit suggest that the universe is fundamentally organic and undergoing endless transformation, of which the life of a human (or a werewolf) is a small but integral part. The works propose that the entire mental and experiential content of a human life has ongoing meaning in the context of a larger picture. It challenges the illusory nature of our three dimensional concept of reality, suggesting that infinite space can exist within a finite physical container, and that infinite possibilities may exist within and beyond the limits of our perception. Altmejd presents this complex and enigmatic view of reality as a source of wonder and joy, in the form of his delightfully macabre constructions, which provoke thought and titillate the imagination. He uses images of death and decay as positive images, underscoring the transformative, evolutionary nature of reality and the organic interconnectedness of all things, hopefully making life more understandable in the process. Altmejd sees himself as initially controlling the creation of each of his works, but later having to give way to larger and more universal processes as the work develops. He considers his works "living abstract organisms" whose energy depends on the meaning of the work being uncontrolled and ultimately unresolved. "I want my works to have an intelligence of their own", he has said, "not just be a slave to my meaning".
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