George Condo

George Condo (1957, Concord, MA, USA).
Lives and works in New York, NY, USA.

George Condo is recognized as being one of America’s most influential living artists best known for his signature brand of figuration which emphasizes fractured faces and aggressive imagery.

Condo studied art history and music theory at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. After working in Andy Warhol’s Factory, he decamped to Paris in 1985 for a decade and resettled in Manhattan in 1995: “I felt I had to come back to New York with a statement that would stand up against Andy Warhol’s soup cans. And the irony was that it turned out to be Old Master painting”. Condo experimented with the concept he called Artificial Realism – the realistic representation of that which is artificial.

In a career spanning more than three decades, Condo’s highly original and distinctive body of work has consistently drawn upon art historical traditions and genres, in order to hold a mirror up to contemporary social norms and reflect American culture of his time. His work daringly fused the sensibilities of European Old Master painting blending their imagery and techniques with aesthetics that echo “Avignonin naiset” by Pablo Picasso, “Studies from human body” by Francis Bacon and “Woman” figures by Willem de Kooning with references to popular American culture, including Playboy magazine, comics and cartoons. Condo is widely recognized as the ‘missing link’ that connects the figurative tradition begun by Old Masters to his contemporaries, John Currin, Glenn Brown, Dana Schutz and others.

“I describe what I do as psychological Cubism”, – Condo’s art can be viewed as a multilayered experience that brings the viewer in touch with a psychological exploration of human nature. Through the process of transformation involving art historical language and an actualization of philosophical content, Condo’s paintings create a visible window into the world we live in.

Solo exhibitions include: “George Condo” at Cycladic Museum (Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, 2018), “The Way I Think”, The Phillips Collection (Washington, 2017), “Confrontation” (Museum Berggruen, Berlin, 2016–2017), “George Condo. Selections from a Private Collection” (The Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, 2016), “Mental States” (New Museum, New York, 2012–2011).

His works featured in important public and private collections, including:
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York, USA)
National Gallery of Art (Washington, USA)
Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, USA)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, USA)
Tate Gallery (London, UK)
Museu d’Art Contemporani (Barcelona, Spain)
Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Museum of Modern Art (Stockholm, Sweden)
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
The Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt, Germany)
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art (Olso, Norway)

George Condo

  • George Condo - Orgy Composition

    Orgy Composition
    2008
    Oil on canvas
    190,5 x 215,9 cm

    Exhibitions
    Group show “Naturally Naked”, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, August 15 – December 15, 2019.
    George Condo. The Lost Civilization, Musee Maillol, Paris: 17 Apr ‘09 - 17 Aug ‘09
    George Condo: Artificial Realism. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow: 15 May – 14 August, 2008

    Publications
    Catalogue “George Condo. The lost civilization”, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musee Maillol, page 126.
    Catalogue “George Condo: Artificial Realism”, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 2008, pages 59-61

  • George Condo - The Other Side of Reality

    The Other Side of Reality
    2008
    Oil on canvas
    190.5 x 215.9 cm

    Exhibitions
    George Condo: Artificial Realism. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow: May-Aug 2008

    Publications
    Catalogue “George Condo: Artificial Realism”, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow. 2008, pp. 96-97

  • Two Female Figures

    Two Female Figures
    2008
    Oil on canvas
    190,5 x 215,9 cm

    Exhibitions
    George Condo: The Lost Civilization, Musee Maillol, Paris: 17 Apr - 17 Aug 2009
    George Condo: Artificial Realism. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow: May - Aug 2008

    Publications
    Catalogue “George Condo: The lost civilization”, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musee Maillol, p. 126
    Catalogue “George Condo: Artificial Realism”, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 2008, pp. 27-29

  • George Condo - Cave painting

    Cave painting
    2008
    Oil on canvas
    190,5 x 215,9 cm


    Exhibitions
    George Condo: Artificial Realism. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow: May - Aug 2008

    Publications
    Catalogue “George Condo: Artificial Realism”, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 2008, pages 93-95

  • George Condo - Spider Woman

    Spider Woman
    2002
    Oil on canvas
    243,8 x 203,2 cm

    Exhibitions
    Mutated Reality. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, Russia. 27.11.2015 – 02.04.2016
    George Condo. Mental State. New Museum, New York, USA. 26.01 – 15.05.2011
    George Condo. The Lost Civilization, Musee Maillol, Paris: 17.04 – 17.08.2009
    'George Condo. One Hundred Women', Museum der Moderne Salzburg, March 12–May 29, 2005. Kunsthalle Bielefeld, June 19-August 14, 2005


    Publicated:
    Catalogue “Mutated Reality”. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, 2016. pp. 38-43, 61
    Catalogue “George Condo: Mental State”, Hayward Publishing, New York, 2011. P. 30.
    Catalogue “George Condo. The lost civilization”, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musee Maillol, p. 129
    'George Condo. One Hundred Women'. Museum Der Moderne Salzburg, March 12-May 29, 2005. Kunsthalle Bielefeld, June 19-August 14, 2005. P. 94