David Altmejd

David Altmejd was born in 1974 in Montreal, Canada. He earned a BFA from the Universite du Quebec a Montreal in 1998 and an MFA from Columbia University in 2001, after which he became known for sculptures built from styrofoam, synthetic hair, epoxy clay, resin, mirror, and crystal, materials he uses to construct giant human and lupine bodies that read as part science experiment, part gothic fairy tale.

His international profile rose through a run of major biennial selections, including the 8th Istanbul Biennial in 2003 and the Whitney Biennial in 2004, before he represented Canada at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 with the installation The Index. A major survey exhibition, Flux, opened at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2014 and traveled to the Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal and Mudam Luxembourg. A related survey, The Flux and the Puddle, was shown at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 2015 and traveled to the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec. He has continued to exhibit internationally through the 2020s, including solo shows at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles and Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, and a 2026 solo exhibition, Elle, at Bradley Ertaskiran in Montreal. Gallery and museum sources describe him as currently living and working in Los Angeles.

No exact, attributable critic quotation from a major outlet could be confirmed for this profile. Reception is instead visible through institutional selection: Altmejd was chosen for the Istanbul Biennial in 2003, the Whitney Biennial in 2004, and the Canadian pavilion at Venice in 2007. No major international art prize appears clearly documented in the public record for him. Gallery texts consistently describe his work as a mix of science and magic, science fiction and gothic romanticism, a framing echoed across his museum survey history from Paris to Brussels to Humlebaek.

Altmejd's auction market is far smaller and less well documented than his museum profile. The best-supported figure for his all-time auction high is GBP 217,300, attributed by Artsy to a Christie's sale in 2012, though the exact lot title, sale date, and sale location are not confirmed in public sources. Most of his individual auction results at Phillips, Artnet, and Artprice fall well below six figures in US dollar terms, and Artprice records roughly 53 auction appearances for the artist, a modest volume for an artist of his institutional standing.

The auction record for Altmejd's work is thinly documented: the most-cited high price lacks a confirmed lot title, date, or sale location, and overall auction volume is modest relative to his museum presence. No catalogue raisonne has been confirmed, so collectors should rely on current gallery representation, White Cube, Xavier Hufkens, and David Kordansky Gallery, for provenance and authentication questions. His deep collection base across major North American and European museums is the strongest signal of long-term standing, while the sparse and imprecise public auction data is the main reason to treat any single sale result with caution.