George Condo
Crazy Cat Combination, 1989-1990
Oil, paper and charcoal on canvas
342.9 × 252.1 cm
“That’s why I work with a cast of characters, all created carefully. As each of them becomes real, so do their environments, their place of being. Sometimes, I think they even come from some imaginary character’s mind.”
– George Condo
“Crazy Cat Combination,” created between 1989 and 1990, is a vibrant depiction influenced by the American cartoonist George Herriman, renowned for the comic strip “Krazy Kat.”
This monumental composition unites nine works that were originally created as individual paintings and then assembled by the artist in a manner reminiscent of classic comic book pages.
In keeping with the artist’s earlier series of ‘fake Old Masters’ from the early 1980s, each segment of “Crazy Cat Combination” is characterized by allusions to various styles and artists, such as Velázquez, Rembrandt, and Picasso. Acting as a collector and an admirer of these artistic languages, he doesn’t reference any specific work but rather borrows recognizable stylistic elements and palettes, mimicking distinct artistic histories in his own unique approach.
Merging European traditions with the images from American culture on a single canvas, Condo fearlessly interweaves cultural codes and values spanning different periods and territories of art history, resulting in a vibrant and witty tapestry of art evolution.
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