George Condo

George Condo (b. 1957, Concord, New Hampshire) is an American contemporary artist celebrated for his imaginative and provocative visual language that fuses Old Master techniques with modern culture. Known for his "Artificial Realism" style, Condo creates distorted, cartoonish characters with exaggerated or grotesque features that evoke both humor and unease. His works span painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking.

 

Condo studied Art History and Music Theory at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell before becoming immersed in New York City's East Village art scene in the late 1970s. He briefly worked at Andy Warhol's Factory and played in a punk band, "The Girls," before focusing on art. He later spent a decade in Europe, working with avant-garde groups such as the Mülheimer Freiheit in Germany and developing his signature style. During this period, he lived in Paris (1985 - 1995), where he deepened his exploration of classical techniques and ventured into sculpture.

 

Since his first solo exhibition in 1983 at Ulrike Kantor Gallery in Los Angeles, Condo's work has been widely exhibited globally. Major retrospectives include Mental States (2011–2012), The Way I Think (2017) and Confrontation (2016), where his art was shown alongside masterpieces by Picasso, Cézanne and Giacometti. He has also participated in prestigious events such as the Venice Biennale and Whitney Biennial.

Condo's work is held in leading museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou. In addition to fine art, he has created iconic album covers, such as Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. A recipient of numerous accolades, including the Academy Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1999), Condo remains a central figure in contemporary art, living and working in New York City.