Exhibition at White Cube Mason's Yard presents works by David Altmejd
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


Exhibition at White Cube Mason's Yard presents works by David Altmejd
David Altmejd’s work is a unique and heady mix of science and magic, science fiction and gothic romanticism: a post-apocalyptic vision which is at the same time essentially optimistic, containing as it always does the potential for regeneration, evolution and invention.



LONDON.- On the ground floor of the gallery we encounter a human figure with the ears of a hare, seated in yogic pose. Its giant ears, stretching almost to the ceiling, seem to probe the limits of the room, while in front of it is a burrow from which the figure appears to have excavated the very matter from which it is made. The contrast of these feet of clay and ears spread like dragonfly wings suggest that a transformation is occurring, from the material to the ethereal.

The Hare is the presiding spirit of the exhibition, whom Altmejd recognises as the Jungian archetype of the Trickster. According to Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, our ancestral memories are represented by certain universal themes and roles which appear throughout our literature, art and dreams, and these archetypes can explain our psychology. Trickster is irrational and capricious, a prankster and shapeshifter. He is Hermes, audacious thief and messenger for the Gods, and Loki the gender-switching master of disguise. For the Yoruba he travels between heaven and earth as the contradictory character Eshu, and to First Nations people he is Rabbit, Raven or Coyote, the rule breaker whose mischief brings about change. He surfaces in African-American folk tradition as Br’er Rabbit, and even appears in animated form as Bugs Bunny. The essayist Lewis Hyde, author of Trickster Makes This World (1998) tracks Trickster into the modern age, subsumed into the role of the artist, and makes a case that this playful, subversive and disruptive force is indispensable to the vitality of our culture.

Altmejd has always sought to absolve his conscious mind from the responsibility of creation, instead attributing his sculptures with their own agency. The crystals he often uses are, in the sculptor’s lexicon, an energy source with which the works are charged, and he has made works featuring multiple hands that appear to clutch and mould at their own substance, just as the seated figure seems to have done. So the Trickster, the mercurial catalyst for transformation, messenger from the subconscious, presented himself as a welcome proxy for the artist, freeing his imagination and spurring it to wilder transformations.

Rowed plinths line the lower gallery, mimicking a classical sculpture court and displaying a fantastical array of bust and heads. Sometimes fragmentary and possibly time-worn, they suggest archaeological finds, parts of animal-headed deities, but might also be extra-terrestrial specimens or the result of genetic experiments. A series of subtle interventions throughout the space suggests networks of unseen activity: smeared toothpaste, pencil notations and entry points to a presumed warren.

Here, Trickster’s shapeshifting powers are truly unleashed, and we meet the Hare in many forms, from cartoon-like to disconcertingly human. His signature ears, majestically erect, comically jaunty or limp with despair, are semaphore flags signalling emotion: they are reduced to vestigial stumps, exaggerated into sails, and in one case formed from the split carcase of a sperm whale. Caught mid-metamorphosis, an elegant hare grows lizard scales, ears transform to leathery batwings and a belly swells with the sleek black and white curves of a killer whale. The most human of the company are given archetypal designations: The Magician, The Other, Young Man, The Mother. Acting as his own analyst, the artist identifies this crowd of characters as manifestations of different aspects of his personality, allowing us to perceive the exhibition as multi-faceted psychic self-portrait.
READ LESS










Today's News

December 23, 2022

An ancient 'horizon calendar' comes into view over Mexico City

New Museum presents first American museum survey of Theaster Gates

Museum für Moderne Kunst opens a comprehensive exhibition of works by Rosemarie Trockel

Gertrude Abercrombie, Edward Hopper, Bernard Buffet highlight Hindman's December Fine Art Auctions

African American Museum delays opening

Exhibition at White Cube Mason's Yard presents works by David Altmejd

Bertoia's wraps stellar year with $2.7M November auction of toys and Christmas antiques from prestigious collections

"Marc Dennis: Once upon a Time" now on view at GAVLAK in solo exhibition

Christmas at Dollywood, with Streetmosphere and a Chicken Lady

Priska Pasquer announces the opening of Priska Pasqquer Paris

Exhibition at Galloire brings together five world-renowned artists

AstaGuru presents extraordinary landmark creations in its 'Historic Masterpieces' Modern Indian Art Auction

A horde of monkeys descend on the Carlone Hall at the Upper Belvedere

The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair returning to Mayfair, London - first time since pandemic in 2020

Fondazione Donnaregina per le arti contemporanee presents exhibition by Jimmie Durham

Coffee culture: Starbucks brings Betsy Silverman's recycled magazine art to Harvard Square

Tony Vaccaro centennial exhibition on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography

'Thatcher's Children' by Craig Easton to be published February 2022

Marianne Boesky Gallery now representing Martyn Cross

Exhibition at the Grand Rapids Art Museum celebrates the creative vision of Jim Henson

Elayne Jones, pioneering percussionist, is dead at 94

On TikTok, an organist finds an audience, and herself

Onstage, it's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas again

Digital artwork virtually repdroduces the 5000-kilometer transnational migratory journey of a single monarch butterfly

Steps for writing an abstract




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful