David Altmejd

David Altmejd is a sculptor who lives and works in New York. He is fascinated with the extraordinary potential of the object, and convinced that the act of making can generate meaning. He was chosen to represent Canada in the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. He has exhibited internationally, including at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2014); Musée d’art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2015); Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2015); MOCA Cleveland (2012); Gallery Met at The Metropolitan Opera House, New York (2008); the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2004); and the Istanbul Biennial (2003). His work is held in public collections including The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; The Royal Museum of Belgium, Brussels; and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

Alumni Spotlight Interview

Was there a specific faculty member or peer that especially inspired you while at the School of the Arts? If so, who and how?

I was very inspired by Matthew Ritchie: he was so excited by complexity and chaos, and he exuded this rare mixture of passionate yet calm energy.

If you could revisit any piece you created during your time at the School of the Arts, which would it be? Why?

Second Werewolf was a large modernist reliquary that contained the crystallizing body parts of a fragmented werewolf. It is my first significant sculpture and the origin of everything that I have made since.