David Altmejd, La galerie des glaces (2016). 
Photo: Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens.

There is nothing simple about the work of Canadian artist David Altmejd, who claims he was never interested in art making as a way to convey a specific idea.

The New York-based sculptor is fascinated with complexity as a form that is ever reshaping itself, and has referred to his practice as “intuitive.” “I see my installations as organisms. I start making something but at a certain point it starts making choices by itself,” he said in an interview in 2004.

His new body of work, presented at Brussels’ Xavier Hufkens gallery, continues his exploration into the beauty and mystery of the natural world through his signature prism of tensions and deconstructions. Sculptures on view include a group of mirrored structures that reflect only fragments of their surroundings, human figures cast in bronze in which the fissures torn in the plaster by the artist’s hands are visible, and a group of ghoulish hybrid heads, which are an important and recurrent motif in his work.

The anthropomorphic bronze figures in the new show can be linked to Altmejd’s ongoing series known as Bodybuilders. But here, there’s evidence of gendered detail, such as ruffles on a dress or high-heeled shoes. It’s a puzzle filled with voids, that can produce myriad relationships and connection, but never a singular whole.

See more photos of works in the exhibition below:

David Altmejd, Matrix 2 (2016). 
Photo: Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens.

David Altmejd, La fraise et le vent (2016). 
Photo: Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens.

David Altmejd, La licorne (2016). 
Photo: Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens.

David Altmejd, La pause (detail) (2016) .
Photo: Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens.

“David Altmejd, L’ air” is on view at Xavier Hufkens gallery, Brussels, from March 4 – April 9.