George Condo
Biography
Known for his unique figurative paintings and prints, George Condo is an American Artist who recontextualized painting from Old Masters with allusions to contemporary culture. He featured fractured portraits and aggressive imagery, blending techniques to create paintings that echo the work of Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning.
Condo began his career in the arts as a member of the Band “The Girls” after studying music theory and art history at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. When performing in New York, he met Jean-Michel Basquiat who encouraged him to move to New York City. Condo’s first public exhibitions were held in East Village galleries between 1981 and 1983. After a brief stretch working in Andy Warhol’s Factory, Condo moved to Los Angeles, and then Europe.
In 2010, Condo collaborated with the musician Kanye West in producing cover art for his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. A year later, the artist was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition “Mental States,” at the New Museum.
Condo married actress Anna Achdian in 1989. They have two daughters, Eleonore and Raphaelle. The couple divorced in 2016. Condo currently lives and works in New York, NY.
Today, his paintings are held 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., among others.
Born: 1957
Education: University of Massachusetts in Lowell
Exhibitions
Select Exhibitions
2021
George Condo: Ideals of the Unfound Truth
HAUSER & WIRTH, LONDON MAYFAIR | LONDON | UK
George Condo: The Picture Gallery, LONG MUSEUM, WEST BUND XUHUI | SHANGHAI | CHINA
George Condo: Expanded Portraits, ANDREA CARATSCH GALLERY, ST. MORITZ ST. MORITZ | SWITZERLAND
George Condo: Internal Riot – Hauser & Wirth, New York, 22nd Street, HAUSER & WIRTH, NEW YORK, 22ND STREET CHELSEA | NEW YORK | USA
2019
George Condo: What’s The Point?, SPRÜTH MAGERS, LOS ANGELES PARK LA BREA | LOS ANGELES | CALIFORNIA | USA
2018
George Condo: Selected Works, CHARLES RIVA COLLECTION BRUSSELS | BELGIUM
George Condo at Cycladic, MUSEUM OF CYCLADIC ART ATHENS | GREECE
2017
George Condo: The Way I Think, THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION WASHINGTON D.C. | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | USA
George Condo: Life is Worth Living, ALMINE RECH, PARIS (RUE DE TURENNE) 3E | PARIS | FRANCE
George Condo: What’s The Point? – Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles
George Condo: Master Paintings, Sculptures & Drawings – Andrea Caratsch Gallery, St. Moritz
George Condo: Master Paintings, Sculptures & Drawings, ANDREA CARATSCH GALLERY, ST. MORITZ ST. MORITZ | SWITZERLAND
2016
George Condo: Entrance to the Void, SPRÜTH MAGERS, LOS ANGELES PARK LA BREA | LOS ANGELES | CALIFORNIA | USA
2014
George Condo: Ink Drawings, SKARSTEDT GALLERY, LONDON ST. JAMES’S | LONDON | UK
2013
Intimate Distance, Arario Gallery, Seoul, Korea
55th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Paintings & Sculpture, Sprüth Magers London, London, England
Paintings & Sculpture, Sprüth Magers Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Inner Journeys, Maison Particulière Art Center, Brussels, Belgium
2012
Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore
George Condo, Schim Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (solo)
George Condo, Mental States, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (solo)
2011
Drawing Paintings, Skarstedt Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
George Condo, Mental States, New Museum, New York, USA (solo) (travelled to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Hayward Gallery, London, England; and Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany)
Drawings, Sprüth Magers, London, England (solo)
George Condo: a collection of etchings, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
George Condo, Mental States, New Museum, New York, USA (solo)
George Condo, Boijmans van Beuingen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
George Condo, Hayward Gallery, London, England (solo)
2010
Cartoon Abstractions, Galerie Jérome de Noirmont, Paris, France (solo)
Beauty is Diamond, Laleh June Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Family Portraits, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany (solo)
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
The Lost Civilization, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
2009
Wall Rockets: Contemporary Artisits and Ed Ruscha, FLAG Art Foundation, Berlin, Germany
George Condo, Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan, Italy (solo)
KolnSkulptur 4, Skulpturenpark Koln, Cologne, Germany (solo)
Just what is it that makes today’s painting so different, so appealing?, Gering & López Gallery, New York, USA
George Condo, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium (solo)
La Civilisation Perdue, Musée Maillol, Paris, France (solo)
2008
George Condo: Drawings, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany (solo)
George Condo, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Inc., Moscow, Russia (solo)
Against All Odds: Keith Haring in the Rubell Family Collection, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, USA
It’s Not Over Yet, Invisible-Exports, New York, USA
God & Goods: Spirituality and Mass Confusion, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Passariano, Codroipo, Italy
How to Cook a Wolf: Part One, Dinter Fine Art, New York, USA
The Luxury of Love, Vanina Holasek, New York, USA
Summer Exhibition, Skarstedt Gallery, New York, USA
Wall Rockets, The Flag Art Foundation, New York, USA
Blasted Allegories, Werke aus der Sammlung Ringier, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland
Out of Shape: Stylistic Distortion of the Human Form in Art, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, USA
Live Undead, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Christ: The Subjective Nature of Objective Representation, Luhring Augustine, New York, USA (solo)
Artificial Realism, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, Russia (solo)
2007
Nicholas Robinson Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
The Beholder’s Eye, The Salmagundi Club of New York, New York, USA
Create your own Museum: Highlights from a Private Collection, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Inc., Moscow, Russia
Negotiating Reality: Recent Works from the Logan Collection, University of Denver Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, Denver, USA
Meet the Artists, Deitch Projects, New York, USA
Still Life and Kicking: a project with Vogue, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, USA
…Und immer fehlt mir was, und das qualt mich, Werkstadt Graz, Graz, Austria
Hold the line, Ferenbalm – Gurbru Station, Karlsruhe, Germany
My sweet sixteen party, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
Effigies, Modern Art Inc. and Stuart Shave/ Modern Art, London, England
Fractured Figure, Works from the Dakis Jannou Collection, Deste Foundation – Center for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
Block Party II, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, New York, USA
Automatic, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, USA
Contemporary and Modern Masters, Richard Gray Gallery, New York, USA
The Present: The Monique Zajfen Collection, Stedelijik Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Zuruch zer Figur – Malerei der Gegenward, KunstHaus Wien, Vienna, Austria
Rockers Island: Olbricht Collection, Museum Folkwang Essen, Essen, Germany
Poetics Country, Ferenbalm-Gurbru Station, Karlsruhe, Germany
Contemporary Art, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, USA
Simon Lee, London, England (solo)
New Works, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
2006
Wrong Gallery, Tate Modern, London, England (solo)
Existential Portraits, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium (solo)
Existential Portraits, Luhring Augustine, New York, USA (solo)
Infinite Painting, Villa Manin Centro d’Arte Contemporanea, Codroipo, Udine, Italy
Zurück zur Figur. Malerei der Gegenwart, Kunsthalle der Hypo Kulturstiftung, München, Germany
Surrealism: Then and Now, Paul Kasmin Gallery & Edelmann Arts, Inc., New York, USA
Memento Mori, Mireille Mosler Ltd., New York, USA
Color Aside, Luhring Augustine, New York, USA
Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
2005
George Condo: Sculptures, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, USA (solo)
George Condo, Monica Spruth Philomene Magers, Munich, Germany (solo)
Disassembled Objects, Power House, Memphis, USA (solo)
One Hundred Women: Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, Salzburg, Austria (solo)
2004
George Condo: Paintings From the Eighties, Briggs Robinson Gallery, New York, USA
George Condo, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, Greece
George Condo: Memories of Manet and Velazquez, Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Paris, France
George Condo, Monika Spruth / Philomene Magers, Cologne, Germany
Religious Paintings, Sprueth Magers Lee, London, England
…As Time Goes By, Leo Koenig Inc. & Gordian Weber Kunsthandel, Leo Koebig Inc., New York, USA
Malerei 7, Monika Spruth Philomene Magers, Cologne, Germany
2003
Depury Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland
Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
George Condo: The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Cambridge, USA
2002
Luhring Augustine, New York, USA
Schlosspark Wendlinghausen, Landscape Garden OstWestfalenlippe, Westfalen, Germany
Paintings 1993-2001, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, USA
Ahead of the 21st Century: The Pisces Collection, Donaueschingen, Switzerland
New York Expression, Bergen Art Museum, Bergen, Norway
2001
Monika Spruth-Philomene Magers, Munich, Germany
Physiological Abstraction, Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris, France
George Condon: Monika Spruth-Philomene Magers, Munich, Germany
Physiognomical Abstraction, Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris, France
2000
George Condo: Jazz Paintings, Pace Wildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, USA
Portraits Lost In Space, Deitch Projects, New York, USA
Portraits, 11 Duke Street, London, England
Mental States, Patrick Painter, Inc., Santa Monica, USA
1999
George Condo: Silkscreen Paintings, Pace Wildenstein, Los Angeles, USA
George Condo, Texas Gallery, Houston, USA
New Paintings, Galerie Monika Sprüth, Cologne, Germany
George Condo: New Paintings, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
George Condo: Televised Silkscreens, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, USA
1998
George Condo, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
The Horse and the Cardinal: George Condo and William Burroughs Collaborative Works 1988 – William Borroughs George Condo Collaborations 1988-1996, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, USA
Collage Paintings, PaceWildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, USA
Pages de Garde/End Papers, PaceWildenstein, Los Angeles, USA
1997
Collage Abstractions, PaceWildenstein, Los Angeles, USA
1996
Collage Paintings, PaceWildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, USA
Pages de Garde/End Papers, Pace Wildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, USA
Drawings 1976-1996, PaceWildenstein, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
IT Park Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1995
McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, USA
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, USA
Palais des Congrès de Paris, Paris, France
Zeichnungen, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
Paintings and Drawings, PaceWildenstein, New York, USA
1994
Recent Paintings, PaceWildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, USA
1993
Galeria Salvador Riera, Barcelona, Spain
Galeria Fernando Latorre, Zaragoza, Spain
Sculpturen, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
1992
Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Obra 1990-1992, Galerìa Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain
Stuart Regen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Neue Bilder, Galerie Pfefferle, Munich, Germany
Gravats, Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain
Galeria Salvador Riera, Barcelona, Spain
1991
Recent Paintings, The Pace Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie de Poche, Paris, France
Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Peintures récentes 1989-90, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Drawings, Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Michael Maloney Contemporary Art, Inc., Santa Monica, USA
The 1980’s: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Contemporary Art from the Collection of Jason Rubell, Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, USA
Myth and Magic in the Americas: The Eighties, Museuo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, Mexico
1990
Academy-Institute Invitational Exhibition of Painting & Sculpture, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, USA
Le Visage dans l’art contemporain, Musee Des Jacobins, Toulouse, traveled to Musee du Luxembourg, Paris, France
Pharmakon 90, Nippon Convention Center, Makuhari Messe, International Exhibition Halle, Japan
The Last Decade: American Artists of the80’s, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA
Drawings of the Eighties: Part II, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1989
1979-1989 American, Italian, Mexican Art from the Collection of Francesco Pellizi, Hofstra Museum, Hempstead, USA
I triennial de Dibuix – Joan Miro, La Fundacion Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain
Sculpture by Painters, Pace Gallery, New York, USA
Exposition Inaugurale, Fondation Daniel Templon, Musee Temporaire, Frejus, France
Summer Installation, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Aldo Crommelynck Master Prints with American Artists, Whitney Museum of American Art at the Equitable Center, New York, USA
Painting Beyond the Death of Painting, Koznetzky Most Exhibition Hall, Moscow, Russia
Waddington Galleries, London, England
1988
Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Neue Arbeiten, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Paintings and Drawings, Pace Gallery, New York, USA
Galeria Leyendecker, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Works on Paper, Vrej Baghoomian Inc., New York, USA
Recent Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Biennal Exhibition, Whitney Museum of Americna Art, New York, USA
1987
Neue Bilder, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Gemälde/Paintings 1984-1987, Kunstverein, Munich, Germany
Paintings 1983-1987, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
1986
Paintings, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Recent Paintings, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, USA
Larry Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Drawings, Knights Gallery, Charlotte, USA
1985
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, USA
Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, USA
Schilderijen en Tekeningen, Galerie `t Venster, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Neue Arbeiten, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Major new works, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, Switzerland
1984
Galerìa Leyendecker, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Bilder – Zeichnungen, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, USA
East Village Painters, Artists Space, New York, USA
1983
Terminal Show, Artists Library, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Paintings and Works on Paper, Ulrike Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles, USA