Collections Detail – MAC Montréal

Artist: David Altmejd
Title: Untitled
Dimensions and medium: Clay epoxy, plaster, glass eyes, synthetic hair, acrylic paint, metal wire, resin, quartz and various minerals, pyrite, and stainless steel, 96.5 × 22.9 × 33 cm
Artwork description: David Altmejd creates “heads” the way a sculptor may create sketches or drawings. For the artist, they are an opportunity to experiment and rediscover the pleasure of minute details, and provide a respite from his monumental productions. These dislocated heads, often incorporated within larger structures or simply mounted on a steel pole, subvert the familiar and rely on the viewer’s predisposition to identify with representations of transformed bodies. Untitled consists of a head with two inverted faces, mounted on a steel pole. Modeled in a variety of materials including plaster, clay and resin, the sculpture’s bizarre textures lie in opposition to the seductive quality of their colours, the embedded glass and precious minerals such as quartz. The work plays with captivating contrasts that create a unique tension that is typical of David Altmejd’s chimerical universe. The juxtaposition of its grotesque and seductive elements arouses both wonder and discomfort within the viewer.

David Altmejd