George Condo at Hayward Gallery (my beautiful dark twisted fantasy artist)

0 Wednesday November 2 2011 Written by Jeff
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GUEST POST WRITTEN BY: ANGELA NAVARRO

The Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre is displaying some of Gorge Condo’s famous artwork. You may know him from his recent work on Kanye West latest album cover, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ’, he has also collaborated with Marco Barambilla to create Kanye West’s ‘Power’ music video. The exhibition will be open until 8^th January.

George Condo’s art style has been described as Picasso meets Looney-Tune’s.

Memories of Picasso, 1989
Oil on canvas. 195 x 160. Frac Île-de-France Collection
© George Condo. Image courtesy Frac Île-de-France.
Photo: Georges Poncet

Since the beginning of his career in the 80’s he’s been painting portraits in order to reflect human reality.

Couple on Blue Striped Chair, 2005
Oil on canvas. 165.1 x 152.4. Private Collection, Courtesy Simon Lee Gallery
© George Condo. Image courtesy Luhring Augustine

Through the 80 art pieces displayed at the Hayward Gallery you will see sculptures and a selection of paintings he calls ‘fake old master’. These are traditional canvases where Condo references different periods of the art history, American popular culture and cartoons.

Lady Crimp, 1984.
Oil on canvas. 78.7 x 66. Private Collection
© George Condo. Image courtesy the lender

Condo’s subjects are creepy, comic, attractive and repulsive at the same time. He sometimes uses comedy to describe human nature for example, Queen Elizabeth II malformed and a portrait of an art collector.

Then, Condo expresses in his own words ‘The great thing about art is that you can see yourself without even having to look in the mirror…Occasionally real life is crazier than anything that can come from our imagination. You only have to look around you to see how nuts it can actually be’

Jesus, 2002
Oil on canvas. 91.4 x 91.4. Collection of Nancy and Robert Magoon
© George Condo. Image courtesy Luhring Augustine