David Altmejd’s Surreal Art Takes Center Stage at Xavier Hufkens

David Altmejd’s Surreal Art Takes Center Stage at Xavier Hufkens

As a seasoned gamer with a keen eye for the surreal and fantastical, I find myself utterly captivated by David Altmejd’s enchanting creations. The intricate blend of reality and fiction that his art presents is reminiscent of stepping through the looking glass into the whimsical world of Alice in Wonderland, a journey I have taken countless times in my virtual escapades.


David Altmejd’s extraordinary works exist in a borderland, blending the real and the imagined. Frequently, he explores the human form and decay in his anthropomorphic sculptures, which seem to be characters from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” (1951) that have stepped into a chilling live-action movie.

This autumn, Altmejd will reveal an extensive exhibition of his work at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels. The gallery’s Rivoli location will host the show titled after his name, which encompasses sculpture, painting, and installation. On display will be various pieces that range from grotesque busts and decaying human figures to captivating mixed-media environments like “The Flux and the Puddle” (2014), a complex labyrinth made of plexiglass filled with intricate figurines created using faux fur, body parts, resin – a blend of ecosystem, laboratory, and fairy tale land where severed limbs, animal parts, and technology merge.

Altmejd refers to his artwork as something infused with energy – this energy is not only present during the creative process but also resides within the materials themselves, which seem to develop a life of their own. In conversation with David Kordansky Gallery, Altmejd shared that he relies on intuition to allow his work to reveal its meaning. He doesn’t strive to control this meaning; instead, it emerges organically when he feels that what he creates has symbolic or narrative potential. In essence, Altmejd might be said to have a fixation on the potential inherent in his work, and perhaps one could argue that the most distinctive aspect of his art is its exploration and celebration of this potential.

People living in Brussels can look forward to visiting Altmejd’s newest exhibition, which is set to launch on November 22, 2024, and continue until February 8, 2025.

Xavier Hufkens
Rue Saint-Georges 107,
1050 Ixelles, Belgium

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2024-09-10 21:25