George Condo

Pioneering contemporary artist George Condo has created a world where classical portraiture meets the absurd, and the human mind spills onto the canvas in ways both hilarious and haunting. In his signature style of “psychological cubism,” Condo paints faces that are beautifully broken, their features scrambled and reassembled in a complex depiction of identity and emotion.

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1957, Condo has always been a bit of an outsider—an artist fascinated by the cracks in perfection. After studying Art History and Music Theory at the University of Massachusetts, he made his way to New York City in the 1980s, where he found himself in the middle of a creative explosion. Rubbing elbows with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and even working at Andy Warhol’s Factory, he soaked up the raw energy of the era.

Example works like The Escaped Hippie and The Madness of My Mind, are more than paintings; they reflect psychological states and twisters of emotion. He doesn’t paint people as they look—he paints them as they feel: humour, anxiety, joy, madness—it’s all there, layered in colours and chaotic lines. George Condo is inspired by everything from Old Master paintings to underground comics, his art is a rollercoaster ride through the human psyche. Condo’s influence stretches far beyond the art world, shaping music, fashion, and pop culture.