Art Metropole

#04349

David Altmejd: The Index

Artist

David Altmejd

Date

2007

Publisher

Galerie de l'UQAM

Format

Catalogues

Details

Hardcover

Size

22 × 28.8 × 1 cm

Length

72 

David Altmejd creates powerful installations that, while informed by architectural philosophy, teem with sensory excess. In The Index, Altmejd transforms the helicoid Canadian pavilion into an aviary like no other. Composed of wooden bridges, sections of trees and steel and glass mirrors that are layered and interconnected, the work is inhabited by flocks of stuffed birds, birds fabricated from materials at hand and fragmented bodies of half-men, half-birds – the whole richly ornamented with quartz crystals and mirror shards. The imposing sculpture lies in a glass display case with mirrored sides, thereby exacerbating its formal and material possibilities. The title refers to the diversity of species and its collection. Classification and organization into an avifauna, with an internal balance that ensures perpetuity, communicates the ineluctable unity of life. David Altmejd has exhibited widely, notably in the Istanbul and Whitney Biennials and, in just a few years, has achieved an enviable place on the international art scene. The exemplary individuality of his work makes him one of the most significant artists of his generation. Also exhibited and discussed is another new work, Giant 2. In English, French and Italian.