Nature and Evolution

I'm glad to see that there's some kind of art that exists for Nature and Evolution. Nature and Evolution has been one of the most contraversal issues known to mankind. Montreal born, New York-based David Altmejd’s opulent, and highly disquieting sculpture has been attracting attention since the 2004 Whitney Biennial with his display of two bejewelled werewolf heads, installed in Perspex boxes in Central Park. But it was Altmejd’s labyrinthine installation in the Canadian Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale with its kaleidoscopic fantasy of taxidermied beasts and a colossal fragmented figure of a crouching giant, all reflected and refracted in a maze of mirrors, that confirmed his international status.

This month the UK is embracing Altmejd’s bizarre vision with two shows of his most recent work, one at Tate Liverpool as part of the Liverpool Biennial and the other in London at Stuart Shave/Modern Art.

The Art Newspaper: Your two huge giants (The Holes) fill the ground floor of Tate Liverpool. You’ve also shown a particular fondness for making werewolves. What draws you to these fairytale subjects?

David Altmejd: I always try to choose the most potentially symbolically interesting reference, but it’s very intuitive. I didn’t have any specific reasons to choose the werewolf, it just felt much more interesting than the human body or any other creature. It had more symbolic potential, it could open doors and start conversations.

Original Article