Paddy Johnson at Art Agenda: David Altmejd at Andrea Rosen Gallery

by Paddy Johnson on April 22, 2011 · 4 comments Art Agenda

I’m in the cyber-pages of Art Agenda again this week, reviewing David Altmejd’s latest show at Andrea Rosen. The show closes tomorrow, so if it piques your interest get on out there. An excerpt:

“Property itself has become a more social endeavor,” Wired Magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly wrote three years ago. The now-famed blog post describes the dematerialization of raw materials and other saleable objects as a social phenomenon, citing shared music, books, and movies, as among the goods on their way out. Instead, they will all be part of “the cloud,” a vast digital network accessible via tax or subscription.

It's hard not to think about this concept at David Altmejd's current exhibition at Andrea Rosen—a visual interpretation of the decentralization and dematerialization we are currently witnessing. Nearly every figurative sculpture and vitrine in the show suggests dispersion, a mass of complicated networks and slow decomposition of substance. This result isn't always particularly compelling or resolved—Altmejd too frequently fails to account for the viewer's experience—but the show has a few highlights regardless.

For the full piece, click here.

{ 4 comments }

Peter April 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm

Haters gonna hate.

Jason April 26, 2011 at 3:54 pm

after doing some research, i can’t understand how he went from zero to everyone’s darling almost overnight, from nowhere (montreal?). his stuff is…okay, but this is actually the first review that dared to even come close to saying his works are somewhat mediocre; the rest are always gushing…
i’m not trying to cause trouble. i genuinely want to know what elevates his work to anything above objects of indifference.

Anonymous April 26, 2011 at 4:03 pm

Well, he didn’t come from no where exactly. He’s part of the 2001 Columbia class that became so well known. Dana Schutz was in that class as well (she graduated in 2002). Those were an exceptional few years by any standard and it helped that Jerry Saltz was teaching there at the time, so there was a very influential critic who was there to draw attention to that.

For what it’s worth, I thought the piece he made that won the Venice Biennale is amongst the best works I’ve seen this decade. This show does not reflect his talent IMO, but no artist is so consistent that they produce astounding works time and time again.

Jason April 27, 2011 at 5:19 pm

okay thanks! it’s hard to ask these kinds of questions without coming off as having already made up one’s mind. your columbia explanation, with its connections and channels is a good start.

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