Canadian artist David Altmejd has opened a new exhibition, titled Prélude pour un nouvel ordre mondial, filled with a body of new sculptures and drawings at the Xavier Hufkens Gallery in Belgium. The showcase marks the first time the artist has combined the two mediums, as he examines their connection through the lens of the natural world.
In sculpture, Altmejd introduces his own army of hybrid, anthropomorphic creatures, all of which play on the idea that animals possess eclectic powers and belief systems through rich symbolism.
“Rams, an orca, snakes, a panther, birds, rabbits and swans have all made their way into the oeuvre, serving as metaphors and companions since time immemorial, with their wisdom often pointing the way to spiritual enlightenment,” reads an official description of the sculptures. “Consider, for instance, the Bible, the Koran, the Dhammapada, the Analects of Confucius, or Aesop’s fables.”
The drawings, like the sculptures, explore how “animal nature” can serve as a “psychic source of renewal and wholeness.” Space-time grids are distorted by virtue of their hand-drawn nature, sometimes appearing punctured and other times glitch-like. Across the exhibition, the drawings mimic the species-sprawling beings that exist as three-dimensional sculptures before them.
Altmejd’s Prélude pour un nouvel ordre mondial exhibition is now on display at the Xavier Hufkens Gallery in Belgium through February 8. Take a look at his latest works above.
Xavier Hufkens
Rue Saint-Georges 107,
1050 Ixelles, Belgium
