George Condo
Biography
GEORGE CONDO PAYS TRIBUTE TO A VAST ARRAY OF ART-HISTORICAL TRADITIONS AND GENRES, DRAWING TOGETHER ELEMENTS OF OLD MASTER PORTRAITURE WITH ALLUSIONS TO CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CULTURE.
GEORGE CONDO POPULATES HIS CANVASES WITH A PARADE OF GROTESQUES; HIS FIGURES' BULGING EYES, BULBOUS CHEEKS, PROLIFERATING LIMBS, AND FRACTURED FACES EVOKE THE ALLURE AND ABJECTION OF A CARNIVAL. CONDO TAKES INSPIRATION FROM ARTISTS INCLUDING PABLO PICASSO, DIEGO VELAZQUES, HENRI MATISSE, AND TWOMBLY, INTEGRATING TENETS OF ABSTRACTION INTO A PRACTICE THAT RANGES FROM MACABRE PORTRAITURE TO MORE GEOMETRICAL, LESS REPRESENTATIONAL COMPOSITIONS. CONDO HAS REFERRED TO HIS SuBJECT'S MULTIPLICITY AS "ARTIFICIAL REALISM" THAT OFFERS A SIMULATED, DISTINCTLY AMERICAN TAKE ON EUROPEAN ART HISTORY. CONDO HAS PARTICIPATED IN THE VENICE BIENNALE AND EXHIBITED AT TATE MODERN AND THE NEW MUSEUM, AMONG OTHER INSTITUTIONS. HE FAMOUSLY MADE HIS START WORKING AS A STUDIO ASSISTANT FOR ANDY WARHOL.
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