1957, Concord, NH, USA. Lives and works in New York.
One of the central figures of American painting, George Condo gained prominence in the New York art scene in the early 1980s. Pioneering a uniquely original style known as 'Artificial Realism', which he described as 'the realistic representation of that which is artificial', Condo has created one of the most daring, ingenious, and alluring bodies of work in contemporary art.
The strong interest in art history and constant allusions to the Old Masters paintings became a core feature of Condo's work. Through the color and form he links different epochs and styles ranging from Renaissance and Baroque to Cubism and Surrealism merging them with references to popular American culture, including magazines, comics and cartoons which assesses his art as a 'missing link' that connects the figurative tradition to his contemporaries.
One of the central figures of American painting, George Condo gained prominence in the New York art scene in the early 1980s. Pioneering a uniquely original style known as 'Artificial Realism', which he described as 'the realistic representation of that which is artificial', Condo has created one of the most daring, ingenious, and alluring bodies of work in contemporary art.
The strong interest in art history and constant allusions to the Old Masters paintings became a core feature of Condo's work. Through the color and form he links different epochs and styles ranging from Renaissance and Baroque to Cubism and Surrealism merging them with references to popular American culture, including magazines, comics and cartoons which assesses his art as a 'missing link' that connects the figurative tradition to his contemporaries.
"You want to reach a point where your work is the sum total of everything that ever happened before you. That's basically my goal, that my art would be the sum total of every other form of art in the universe."
– George Condo
– George Condo
George Condo. Photo: Mr Adrian Gaut/Trunk Archive
George Condo
The fascinating characters inhabiting George Condo's paintings always evoke intense emotions in viewers. Frequently gazing directly at the audience, they seem prepared to initiate a close and charged conversation, while the viewer becomes the observed, studied as deeply as the figures positioned on the alternate plane of reality. These 'hallucinatory beings' provoke, startle, allure, and entertain with their distorted, contorted visages and forms. Whether humorous or unsettling, tempting or exposed, they exist 'at the extreme height of whatever moment they're in,' captivating the public with their absurd and unconventional appearances, featuring exaggerated and often grotesque traits. Reflecting the full spectrum of human emotions, as the artist himself suggests, 'they can embody the despair, the heartache, the love, and the happiness of any of us', bringing the viewer in touch with a psychological exploration of human nature.
"Some evoke a theatrical quality that can be comedic or scary. You have the power as a viewer to expose any one of these characters at any moment, which creates a vulnerable atmosphere to the painting."
– George Condo
– George Condo
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Oil on canvas
215,9 x 190,5 cm
215,9 x 190,5 cm
Smiling Face, 2008
George Condo's fascination with Cubism and particularly works of Pablo Picasso leaded to a range of portraits featuring the style's core visual characteristics. Condo has described his works referencing the movement as 'psychological cubism'.
"Picasso painted a violin from four different perspectives at one moment. I do the same with psychological states. Four of them can occur simultaneously. Like glimpsing a bus with one passenger howling over a joke they're hearing down the phone, someone else asleep, someone else crying – I'll put them all in one face."
– George Condo
– George Condo
One of the most iconic examples from Condo's notable 'Existential Portraits' series, and a prototype of his celebrated Cubist Paintings – the 'Smiling Face' is an expansive painting that highlights Condo's profound exploration into the realm of psychological portrait. Through an inventive amalgamation of his trademark psychological cubism and artificial realism, Condo pushes beyond the conventional boundaries of portraiture. Set against an isolated background, constructed from the colorful cubistic forms the figure is an obvious combination of female and male features. The blend of artist's two best-known techniques rendered in unabashed bold colors with unwavering lines ultimately results in a portrait that triggers a viewer's emotions through its contradictory nature.
Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 (Det.)
© Museum of Modern Art, New York
© Museum of Modern Art, New York
Paul Klee. Senecio, 1922
© Kunstmuseum Basel
© Kunstmuseum Basel
Francis Bacon. Triptych, 1987 (Det.)
© Private Collection
© Private Collection
"Often one eye is looking at you and the other eye is more recessive. You're seduced by the willing eye and then stared at by the aggressive one. As you move into the portrait there is something paranoiac about each part."
– George Condo
– George Condo
George Condo. Smiling Face, 2008 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
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Oil on canvas
243,8 x 203,2 cm
243,8 x 203,2 cm
Spider Woman, 2002
The fascination with bodily metamorphosis comes alive in George Condo's captivating artwork, 'Spider Woman'. This piece seamlessly blends the poise and refinement of traditional nude portraiture with an empowered, self-contained feminine sensuality, all the while infusing hints of Bosch's unsettling dreamscapes.
Hieronymus Bosch. The Garden of Earthly Delights (Det.)
© Museo del Prado, Madrid
© Museo del Prado, Madrid
Condo skillfully adopts the virtuoso draftsmanship and paint techniques of the Old Masters to depict the fantastical subjects of his imagination. Against a yellow-tinged backdrop, the central figure avoids direct eye contact with the viewer, instead fixing a vacant gaze into the expanse of space—an effect that evokes feelings of solitude, disorientation and enchanting attraction.
George Condo. Spider Woman, 2008 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
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Oil on canvas
190,5 x 215,9 cm
190,5 x 215,9 cm
Blending the grotesque and the comical 'Cave Painting' by George Condo perfectly reflects the essence of the artist's unique style, which he describes as oscillating 'between a scream and a smile.' A reclining nude figure locks eyes with the viewer, creating a direct engagement. This stance pays homage to the renowned classical paintings and representation of a nude female in the art history.
Condo's work incorporates key elements from the artistic predecessors. The intense, sexualized gaze could be a reference to Monet's 'Olympia'. From 'Sleeping Venus' by Giorgione, he draws the celebration of sensuality and fertility. However, beneath the surface of 'Cave Painting', there flows a primal, almost menacing current, expressing a carnal, instinctual craving and animalistic desire. At the heart of the canvas is a small, conspicuous detail that demands attention—a carrot, playfully and perilously suspended above the character's visage as a symbol of misleading expectations.
"I painted a number of paintings representing the carrot. It's a metaphor of false hope, the carrot is dangling in front of you, like the dagger in Hamlet."
– George Condo
– George Condo
Giorgione, Sleeping Venus, 1508–1510 © Old Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden State Art Museums
Edouard Manet. Olympia, 1863 ©RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowsk
George Condo. Cave Painting, 2008 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
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Oil on canvas
190,5 x 215,9 cm
190,5 x 215,9 cm
The Other Side of Reality, 2008
This artwork serves as a contemporary extension of the iconic subject, 'The Luncheon on the Grass,' previously explored by renowned artists such as Edouard Manet, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Gauguin. Amidst a vibrant interplay of colors in the cloudy sky, an impressionistic essence emerges. In 'The Other Side of Reality', Condo delves into the various psychological states of the characters, capturing concurrent trains of thought through his unique artistic language that draws on the methodology of cubism.
Edouard Manet. Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1863 © Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Paul Gauguin. Mahana no atua, 1894 © Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Pablo Picasso. Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1961 © Musée Ludwig, Cologne
'The Other Side of Reality' captures the raw painterly dynamism and psychic intensity which characterize the artist's practice. The work shows flashes of each of the artist's most important touchstones: his own brand of 'psychological Cubism', cartoon references, and Old Master works.
George Condo. The Other Side Of Reality, 2008 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
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Oil on canvas
190,5 x 215,9 cm
190,5 x 215,9 cm
Orgy Composition, 2008
'Orgy Composition' is a daring blend of the sensual painting of the European and American masters, the aesthetics of Pablo Picasso's 'Les Maidens d'Avignon', Francis Bacon's 'Etudes of the Human Body', and Willem De Kooning's female images, with references to kitsch and popular American culture, including Playboy magazine. Commenting on contemporary life, it's hypocrisy and 'madness of everyday' it reveals the inner space usually masked by fancy, respectable façades, a private life and hidden thoughts and desires. 'Orgy Composition' delves into the realm of human expression with a fearless embrace of diverse artistic influences, emerging as a thought-provoking commentary on contemporary existence.
"I think it is the uptight conservative climate that got me going. They are a reaction to the façade of morality that hides the fanatical undercurrent that we are faced with today."
– George Condo
– George Condo
Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 © Museum of Modern Art, New York
Francis Bacon. Three Studies from the Human Body, 1967. Private Collection, London
"In Condo's universe, however, sex is imagined less as a victory over abstinence than as a confirmation of necessity of connection with other people, however crude."
– George Condo
– George Condo
George Condo. Orgy Composition, 2008 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
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Oil on canvas
217,9 x 218,4 cm
217,9 x 218,4 cm
Dismas, 2007
A fine example of Condo's dramatic intensity – the work 'Dismas' – demonstrates artist's study of the psychology of the portrait as well as an investigation of symbolism in imagery. Condo translates one of the most popular iconographies in Western art history into a unique work of his imagination. Dismas was the name of one of the two thieves crucified at the same time as Jesus, usually depicted beside him. Dismas' haggard face, played by Condo, is contorted into a mimicry of pain. Theatrically propped by a bright spotlight against a dark background, the outlaw transforms from a biblical figure into a fantastical creature of Condo's universe.
The figure within the 'Dismas' painting seemingly floating out of the darkness, harkens back to the images of quattrocento frescoes, dramatic colors and compositions from Francisco Goya's works, levitating figures on the canvases of Marc Chagall and early canvases of Francis Bacon.
Francisco de Goya. Christ Crucified, 1780 © Museo del Prado, Madrid
Francis Bacon. Crucifixion, 1933 © The Estate of Francis Bacon
Marc Chagall. White Crucifixion, 1938 © Art Institute of Chicago
George Condo. Dismas, 2007 © Gary Tatintsian Gallery
George Condo – selected works
© Courtesy of the Artist and Gary Tatintsian Gallery
August 29–October 22, 2023
