George Condo (Concord, New Hampshire, US 1957 -)
About
George Condo was born in 1957, in Concord, New Hampshire, US.
He is a modern American artist known for his distinctive figurative paintings and prints.
For nearly four decades, Condo has held a central position in the landscape of American painting. His distinct and imaginative visual language pays homage to a wide range of art-historical traditions and genres, combining elements of Old Master portraiture with references to contemporary American culture. The astonishing range of sources from which his pictorial vocabulary draws is often noted, however, this continuity across his vastly diverse painting practice bears witness to his achievement in absorbing the revolutionary genius of Picasso, Velazquez, Matisse, Arcimboldo, Pollock, Twombly, and countless others and making them new; characteristically his own. “I describe my work as psychological Cubism,” the artist says of his work.
Condo has attended the University of Massachusetts in Lowell to study art history and music theory. He was a member of the band ‘The Girls’ in the late 1970s when he met Jean-Michel Basquiat at a show in New York; it was Basquiat who suggested he move to New York to pursue an art career. Between 1981 and 1983, Condo’s first public exhibitions were held in East Village galleries. After a brief stretch working in Andy Warhol’s Factory, Condo relocated to Paris in 1985 and stayed there for a decade.
His influence can be seen in the work of a variety of contemporary painters, including John Currin, Glenn Brown, and Lisa Yuskavage. Condo has also collaborated with musician Kanye West on the cover art for his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. The artist was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition, “Mental States,” at the New Museum a year later.
Condo is currently based in New York and its paintings can now be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
He is a modern American artist known for his distinctive figurative paintings and prints.
For nearly four decades, Condo has held a central position in the landscape of American painting. His distinct and imaginative visual language pays homage to a wide range of art-historical traditions and genres, combining elements of Old Master portraiture with references to contemporary American culture. The astonishing range of sources from which his pictorial vocabulary draws is often noted, however, this continuity across his vastly diverse painting practice bears witness to his achievement in absorbing the revolutionary genius of Picasso, Velazquez, Matisse, Arcimboldo, Pollock, Twombly, and countless others and making them new; characteristically his own. “I describe my work as psychological Cubism,” the artist says of his work.
Condo has attended the University of Massachusetts in Lowell to study art history and music theory. He was a member of the band ‘The Girls’ in the late 1970s when he met Jean-Michel Basquiat at a show in New York; it was Basquiat who suggested he move to New York to pursue an art career. Between 1981 and 1983, Condo’s first public exhibitions were held in East Village galleries. After a brief stretch working in Andy Warhol’s Factory, Condo relocated to Paris in 1985 and stayed there for a decade.
His influence can be seen in the work of a variety of contemporary painters, including John Currin, Glenn Brown, and Lisa Yuskavage. Condo has also collaborated with musician Kanye West on the cover art for his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. The artist was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition, “Mental States,” at the New Museum a year later.
Condo is currently based in New York and its paintings can now be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
Exhibition
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Internal Riot’, New York NY
2019
Skarstedt, ‘Paintings & Works on Paper’, New York NY
Sprüth Magers, ‘What’s the Point? ‘, Los Angeles CA
2018
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘Master Paintings Sculptures & Drawings’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Museum of Cycladic Art, ‘George Condo at Cycladic’, Athens, Greece
Maritime Museum, ‘Expanded Portrait Compositions’, Hong Kong, China
Charles Riva Collection, ‘George Condo,’ Ixelles, Belgium
Sotheby’s S|2, ‘Face-Off. Picasso / Condo’, Hong Kong, China
Charles Riva Collection, ‘George Condo. Selected Works’, Brussels, Belgium
Ikeda Galerie, ‘Frühe Werke’, Berlin, Germany
2017
Louisiana Museum of Art, ‘The Way I Think’, Humlebaek, Denmark (Traveling Exhibition)
Almine Rech, ‘Life is worth living’, Paris, France
Skarstedt, ‘New Works’, New York NY
The Phillips Collection, ‘The Way I Think’, Washington DC (Traveling Exhibition)
Newport Sexx Festival, Newport R.I.
2016
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum Berggruen, ‘Confrontation’, Berlin, Germany
The Heydar Aliyev Center, ‘George Condo. Selections from a Private Collection’, Baku, Azerbaijan
Sprüth Magers, ‘Entrance to the Void’, Los Angeles CA
2015
Xavier Hufkens, ‘Works on Paper’, Brussels, Belgium
Tate Modern, ‘George Condo (display)’, London, UK
2014
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Double Heads / Black Paintings / Abstractions’, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Ink Drawings’, London, UK
Simon Lee, ‘HEADSPACE’, London, UK
2013
The Metropolitan Opera House, ‘Jesters’, New York NY
Sprüth Magers, ‘Paintings & Sculpture,’ Berlin, Germany
2012
Schirn Kunsthalle, ‘Mental States’, Frankfurt, Germany (Traveling Exhibition)
PRISM Gallery, ‘George Condo’, Los Angeles CA
2011
New Museum, ‘Mental States’, New York NY (Traveling Exhibition)
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, ‘Mental States’, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Traveling Exhibition)
Hayward Gallery, ‘Mental States’, London, UK (Traveling Exhibition)
Sprüth Magers, ‘Drawings’, London, UK
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, ‘George Condo. a collection of etchings’, Los Angeles CA
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Drawing Paintings’, New York NY
2010
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘The Lost Civilization’, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Jérome de Noirmont, ‘Cartoon Abstractions’, Paris, France
Sprüth Magers, ‘Family Portraits’, Berlin, Germany
2009
Massimo De Carlo, ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Art But Were Afraid to Ask’, Milan, Italy
Xavier Hufkens, ‘George Condo’, Brussels, Belgium
Skulpturenpark Koln, ‘KolnSkulptur 4’, Cologne, Germany
Musée Maillol, ‘La Civilisation Perdue’, Paris, France
1983
Ulrike Kantor Gallery, ‘Paintings and Works on Paper’, Los Angeles CA
Brooklyn Artists Library, ‘Terminal Show’, New York NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Fondation Carmignac, ‘The Source’, Porquerolles, France
La Biennale di Venezia, 58th International Art Exhibition, ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’, Venice, Italy
Nouveau Musée National Monaco, ‘STEP BY STEP’, Villa Sauber, Monaco
Boca Raton Museum of Art, ‘Beyond the Cape! Comics and Contemporary Art’, Boca Raton FL
Galerie Kraemer, ‘George Condo & les meubles et objets d’art du XVIIIeme siècle’, Paris, France
Skarstedt, ‘Portraits’, New York NY
Skarstedt, ‘Inaugural Exhibition’, New York NY
2018
Skarstedt, ‘Lineage: de Kooning and His Influence’, New York NY
Almine Rech, ‘Cliche’, Organized with Bill Powers, New York NY
2017
Musée Magritte, ‘Magritte, Broodthaers & l’art contemporain’, Brussels, Belgium
Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, ‘Proof of life’, Bremen, Germany
Royal Academy of Arts, ‘Summer Exhibition’, London, UK
Berggruen Gallery, ‘The Human Form’, San Francisco CA
Simon Lee Gallery, ‘An Uncanny Likeness’, New York NY
The Cash Register Art Project, ‘Beauty is Dangerous’, New York NY
2016
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, ‘Biennale of Painting’, Deurle, Belgium
Charles Riva Project, ‘Human Figure’, Brussels, Belgium
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Condo, de Kooning, Kippenberger, Muñoz, Salle, Warhol’, London, UK
FRAC Auvergne, ‘À quoi tient la beauté des étreintes’, Clermont Ferrand, France
Vito Schnabel, ‘A Selection of Works from the 1980s’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Luxembourg & Dayan, ‘In the Making: Artists, Assistants, and Influence’, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Nice Weather’, cur. David Salle, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Portraits’, New York NY
The Broad, ‘Creatures’, Los Angeles CA
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘Black’N’White’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Museum de Fundatie, ‘Ecce Homo / Behold the Man’, Zwolle, The Netherlands
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, ‘Me’, Frankfurt, Germany
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Condo, Gonzalez-Torres, Kelley, Prince, Salle, Sherman, Trockel, Wool’, New York NY
Maison Particulière, ‘Everybody is Crazy, But Me’, Belgium, Brussels
The Broad, ‘Creature’, Los Angeles CA
2015
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Winter Group Show’, London, UK
Grand Palais, ‘Picasso Mania’, Paris, France
13e Biennale de Lyon, ‘la vie moderne’, Lyon, France
MOT international, ‘The Funnies’, Brussels, Belgium
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, ‘NUDE’, The Hague, The Netherlands
Eden Rock Gallery and Art Saint Barth, ‘The Unknown’, Saint Barthélemy, France
Deichtorhallen, ‘Picasso in Contemporary Art’, Hamburg, Germany
Simon Lee Gallery, ‘Faux Amis’, London, UK
Altman Siegel Gallery, ‘As Is Is’, San Francisco CA
Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Villa Croce, ‘Andy Warhol sul como’, Genoa, Italy
1983
Artists Library, ‘Terminal Show’, Brooklyn NY
2020
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Internal Riot’, New York NY
2019
Skarstedt, ‘Paintings & Works on Paper’, New York NY
Sprüth Magers, ‘What’s the Point? ‘, Los Angeles CA
2018
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘Master Paintings Sculptures & Drawings’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Museum of Cycladic Art, ‘George Condo at Cycladic’, Athens, Greece
Maritime Museum, ‘Expanded Portrait Compositions’, Hong Kong, China
Charles Riva Collection, ‘George Condo,’ Ixelles, Belgium
Sotheby’s S|2, ‘Face-Off. Picasso / Condo’, Hong Kong, China
Charles Riva Collection, ‘George Condo. Selected Works’, Brussels, Belgium
Ikeda Galerie, ‘Frühe Werke’, Berlin, Germany
2017
Louisiana Museum of Art, ‘The Way I Think’, Humlebaek, Denmark (Traveling Exhibition)
Almine Rech, ‘Life is worth living’, Paris, France
Skarstedt, ‘New Works’, New York NY
The Phillips Collection, ‘The Way I Think’, Washington DC (Traveling Exhibition)
Newport Sexx Festival, Newport R.I.
2016
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum Berggruen, ‘Confrontation’, Berlin, Germany
The Heydar Aliyev Center, ‘George Condo. Selections from a Private Collection’, Baku, Azerbaijan
Sprüth Magers, ‘Entrance to the Void’, Los Angeles CA
2015
Xavier Hufkens, ‘Works on Paper’, Brussels, Belgium
Tate Modern, ‘George Condo (display)’, London, UK
2014
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Double Heads / Black Paintings / Abstractions’, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Ink Drawings’, London, UK
Simon Lee, ‘HEADSPACE’, London, UK
2013
The Metropolitan Opera House, ‘Jesters’, New York NY
Sprüth Magers, ‘Paintings & Sculpture,’ Berlin, Germany
2012
Schirn Kunsthalle, ‘Mental States’, Frankfurt, Germany (Traveling Exhibition)
PRISM Gallery, ‘George Condo’, Los Angeles CA
2011
New Museum, ‘Mental States’, New York NY (Traveling Exhibition)
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, ‘Mental States’, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Traveling Exhibition)
Hayward Gallery, ‘Mental States’, London, UK (Traveling Exhibition)
Sprüth Magers, ‘Drawings’, London, UK
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, ‘George Condo. a collection of etchings’, Los Angeles CA
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Drawing Paintings’, New York NY
2010
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘The Lost Civilization’, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Jérome de Noirmont, ‘Cartoon Abstractions’, Paris, France
Sprüth Magers, ‘Family Portraits’, Berlin, Germany
2009
Massimo De Carlo, ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Art But Were Afraid to Ask’, Milan, Italy
Xavier Hufkens, ‘George Condo’, Brussels, Belgium
Skulpturenpark Koln, ‘KolnSkulptur 4’, Cologne, Germany
Musée Maillol, ‘La Civilisation Perdue’, Paris, France
1983
Ulrike Kantor Gallery, ‘Paintings and Works on Paper’, Los Angeles CA
Brooklyn Artists Library, ‘Terminal Show’, New York NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Fondation Carmignac, ‘The Source’, Porquerolles, France
La Biennale di Venezia, 58th International Art Exhibition, ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’, Venice, Italy
Nouveau Musée National Monaco, ‘STEP BY STEP’, Villa Sauber, Monaco
Boca Raton Museum of Art, ‘Beyond the Cape! Comics and Contemporary Art’, Boca Raton FL
Galerie Kraemer, ‘George Condo & les meubles et objets d’art du XVIIIeme siècle’, Paris, France
Skarstedt, ‘Portraits’, New York NY
Skarstedt, ‘Inaugural Exhibition’, New York NY
2018
Skarstedt, ‘Lineage: de Kooning and His Influence’, New York NY
Almine Rech, ‘Cliche’, Organized with Bill Powers, New York NY
2017
Musée Magritte, ‘Magritte, Broodthaers & l’art contemporain’, Brussels, Belgium
Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, ‘Proof of life’, Bremen, Germany
Royal Academy of Arts, ‘Summer Exhibition’, London, UK
Berggruen Gallery, ‘The Human Form’, San Francisco CA
Simon Lee Gallery, ‘An Uncanny Likeness’, New York NY
The Cash Register Art Project, ‘Beauty is Dangerous’, New York NY
2016
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, ‘Biennale of Painting’, Deurle, Belgium
Charles Riva Project, ‘Human Figure’, Brussels, Belgium
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Condo, de Kooning, Kippenberger, Muñoz, Salle, Warhol’, London, UK
FRAC Auvergne, ‘À quoi tient la beauté des étreintes’, Clermont Ferrand, France
Vito Schnabel, ‘A Selection of Works from the 1980s’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Luxembourg & Dayan, ‘In the Making: Artists, Assistants, and Influence’, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Nice Weather’, cur. David Salle, New York NY
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Portraits’, New York NY
The Broad, ‘Creatures’, Los Angeles CA
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, ‘Black’N’White’, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Museum de Fundatie, ‘Ecce Homo / Behold the Man’, Zwolle, The Netherlands
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, ‘Me’, Frankfurt, Germany
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Condo, Gonzalez-Torres, Kelley, Prince, Salle, Sherman, Trockel, Wool’, New York NY
Maison Particulière, ‘Everybody is Crazy, But Me’, Belgium, Brussels
The Broad, ‘Creature’, Los Angeles CA
2015
Skarstedt Gallery, ‘Winter Group Show’, London, UK
Grand Palais, ‘Picasso Mania’, Paris, France
13e Biennale de Lyon, ‘la vie moderne’, Lyon, France
MOT international, ‘The Funnies’, Brussels, Belgium
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, ‘NUDE’, The Hague, The Netherlands
Eden Rock Gallery and Art Saint Barth, ‘The Unknown’, Saint Barthélemy, France
Deichtorhallen, ‘Picasso in Contemporary Art’, Hamburg, Germany
Simon Lee Gallery, ‘Faux Amis’, London, UK
Altman Siegel Gallery, ‘As Is Is’, San Francisco CA
Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Villa Croce, ‘Andy Warhol sul como’, Genoa, Italy
1983
Artists Library, ‘Terminal Show’, Brooklyn NY
Exhibited by
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