The Giant,
2006 - mixed media

Photo: Courtesy of Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London

and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

Louise
Déry, director of the Galerie de l’UQAM, will curate the Canadian Pavilion at
the 2007 Venice Biennale. She will represent Canada with an exhibition of
Montreal artist David Altmejd, organized by the Galerie de l’UQAM. The Venice
Biennale is the oldest and most prestigious recurring international exhibition
of contemporary art.

Louise
Déry was prompted to nominate the 32-year-old Altmejd because of the incredible
aesthetic power of his artwork. The young Montrealer’s career has already
garnered international attention at the Istanbul and Whitney biennials, the
Frankfurter Kunstverein, and in the Guggenheim and Whitney collections.

In
the work to be presented in Venice, David Altmejd will focus his attention on
the figure of the giant or colossus. According to the curator, “Altmejd seeks
to metabolize reality into a teeming, vital immediacy, creating objects lyrical
and mysterious, phantasmagorical and metaphysical, whose aesthetic refinement
explores the extreme limits of today’s prevailing artistic notions. His
sculptures present themselves as a joyful playground, revelling in sensual
excess, and are certain to make a strong impression on the imagination of
visitors to the Venice Biennale.”

Press
release and biographies

Circulation – In addition to the Venice
Biennale, the Galerie de l’UQAM also presents in 2007 a travelling exhibition
devoted to David Altmejd.

Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens, Oakville (Ontario): January 27 to March
25, 2007

Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal (Quebec): May 10 to July 8, 2007

Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art & Design, Calgary
(Alberta): September 13 to October 27, 2007

Publication – Louise Déry, David Altmejd,
Montreal, Galerie de l’UQAM, 2006, 112 p., 35$

Distribution: http://www.abcartbookscanada.com

To consult our 2006 program of events:

http://www.galerie.uqam.ca/en/program/2006.htm

If this page does not load properly, please consult the following link:

http://www.galerie.uqam.ca/infocourriel/bulletin/010.htm