The serpent has been around for a quite some time. It's biblical stature as the representation of the temptation of the devil to Eve in the Garden of Eden has often been part of Western thought, but the asp was a powerful symbol in ancient Egyptian culture, representing "divine authority of the pharaohs." The serpent has been a protector and mischievous creature, chaotic and a form of order. And this is where we find Montreal-born, LA-based sculpture artist David Altmejd, on the border of chaos and order, restraint and rawness, realism and fantasy. We are in the underworld but also inverting the hierarchy of the world above it all in one.
I spoke with David on the occasion of his solo show, The Serpent, at White Cube Gallery in NYC, a show exploring a theme he had wanted to challenge himself for years and one that brought out a whole new direction and subconscious expression that he plans to explore in future shows and works. On a sunny April morning, I visited David's now almost-empty-but-in-the-process-of-new-ideas studio in Echo Park and found that this was just the time to get the story of where he is at in 2025. David digs himself into quite a personal world when he is making a show, and he told me he is often unprepared or able to speak of his work until it leaves his studio. So here we are.
On this episode of The Unibrow's Radio Juxtapoz podcast, we speak with David Altmejd about feline energy, biology, physical space, the beauty of a sculpture that is almost always in motion, and what The Serpent means to him.
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The Unibrow's Radio Juxtapoz podcast is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, Evan Pricco. Episode 160 was recorded in Los Angeles on April 7, 2025.
This episode of Radio Juxtapoz is brought to you by the generous support of the Artemizia Foundation, a world class museum of contemporary, graffiti and street art in Bisbee, Arizona.
