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Lot Essay
'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive... transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive'
(D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).
'When I work, the body is like a universe where I can lose myself. It is a metaphor for the landscape, nature and the mountains'
(D. Altmejd, reproduced at https://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/david_altmejd_resources.htm).
Standing at almost three metres tall, The Healers is a fantastical, microcosmic world that explores the boundaries of traditional figuration. Known for his largescale sculptures of anthropomorphic figures cast in a state of metamorphosis, David Altmejd creates surreal worlds that teem with life. In The Healers, a white platform hosts a colourful cast of characters rendered in an unexpected fusion of incongruous elements. Body parts cast in plaster have been assembled in unusual configurations and interspersed with hand crafted plaster mouldings, creating amorphous bodies engaged in acts of carnal desire. Gestural paint work, applied with abandon, in a multitude of colours imbues The Healers with seductiveness. As the artist has articulated, 'I am really not interested in gore. What I make has to be positiveand seductive. Instead of rotting, the characters in my work are crystallizing. This makes the narratives of the pieces move towards life rather than death' (D. Altmejd, quoted in J. Lack 'Artist of the week: David Altmejd', Guardian, July 2004). Altmejd's elaborate, macabre tableaux are reminiscent of baroque compositions and 19th century bronze sculpture,yet fuse distinctively kitsch and gothic elements in a highly contemporary way. 'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive,' he has said, 'transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).
(D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).
'When I work, the body is like a universe where I can lose myself. It is a metaphor for the landscape, nature and the mountains'
(D. Altmejd, reproduced at https://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/david_altmejd_resources.htm).
Standing at almost three metres tall, The Healers is a fantastical, microcosmic world that explores the boundaries of traditional figuration. Known for his largescale sculptures of anthropomorphic figures cast in a state of metamorphosis, David Altmejd creates surreal worlds that teem with life. In The Healers, a white platform hosts a colourful cast of characters rendered in an unexpected fusion of incongruous elements. Body parts cast in plaster have been assembled in unusual configurations and interspersed with hand crafted plaster mouldings, creating amorphous bodies engaged in acts of carnal desire. Gestural paint work, applied with abandon, in a multitude of colours imbues The Healers with seductiveness. As the artist has articulated, 'I am really not interested in gore. What I make has to be positiveand seductive. Instead of rotting, the characters in my work are crystallizing. This makes the narratives of the pieces move towards life rather than death' (D. Altmejd, quoted in J. Lack 'Artist of the week: David Altmejd', Guardian, July 2004). Altmejd's elaborate, macabre tableaux are reminiscent of baroque compositions and 19th century bronze sculpture,yet fuse distinctively kitsch and gothic elements in a highly contemporary way. 'What's most important for me is to create objects that feel alive,' he has said, 'transformation is just one aspect of the work. I also use the strategies of contrast and tension - for example, contrast within an object creates a tension that creates an energy that makes the object look like it is alive' (D. Altmejd, quoted in interview with R. M. Vaughan, Globe and Mail, 20 March 2012).