© George Condo
George Condo is one of the most influential American artists living today. Born in New Hampshire in 1957, Condo has occupied a prominent position in the art world for close to three decades. Ranging from painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture, his work is informed by the inherited European tradition of art making. Incorporating a hybridization of classical influences, such as Raphael, Goya, Velazquez, Picasso and Manet, his work demonstrates a distinctive style which he coined “Artificial Realism” in the early 80s when he emerged as painter on the New York art scene. This original painterly language has greatly influenced the generation that follows him.
Often called “an artist’s artist”, Condo has stood as an example to younger practitioners through his unabashed commitment to his personal vision despite the coming and goings of fads in the art world. Along with Schnabel, Basquiat and Haring, Condo was instrumental in the international revival of painting in the 1980s. Over the decades, his work has consistently surprised and engaged viewers with grotesque and often tradition-conscious paintings. Dismantling and reconfiguring archetypes found throughout our cultural map, from Playboy Bunnies to Queen Elizabeth and from Superman to God, Condo questions and contemplates the underpinnings of our society. His rich pictorial inventions and many “imaginary portraits” straddle the space between comedy and tragedy, the bizarre and the classically beautiful.
Mr. Condo is represented by Skartsedt Gallery, New York, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich, Sprüth Magers, Berlin and Simon Lee Gallery, London. via SKARSTEDT GALLERY
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