George Condo American, b. 1957
George Condo (b. 1957, US) is an American contemporary artist known for his distinct and imaginative style of painting that blends elements of traditional portraiture with a bold and provocative approach. He studied Art History and Music Theory at the University of Massachusetts where he found inspiration in Baroque and Rococo painting. After moving to Paris in 1985, he stayed in Europe for a decade. During this time, Condo developed his 'artificial realism' style - 'the realistic representation of that which is artificial'.
Condo's works are instantly recognizable by their unique and imaginative compositions. His paintings show his appreciation for a range of art-historical genres, drawing from elements of Old Master paintings as well as contemporary American culture. His caricatures fuse cartoon and human forms into metamorphic beings. They express conflicting and exaggerated emotions, simultaneously screaming and smiling in the same portrait.
Over the course of his career, George Condo has achieved numerous prominent achievements and participated in notable exhibitions. In the 1980s, he gained recognition for his collaborations with renowned artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, cementing his position in the contemporary art scene. One of his most notable series, "The Mental States," was exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York in 1985. Condo's work has been displayed worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
