..an essay on Duende & Painter George Condo…

…in many ways the primal scream of a Painter is what distinguishes one from another…though in this scream it is played out differently…Caravaggio killed a man & carried a sword, Sickert saw life as insipid & in this he found inspiration in the low life culture of London…Picasso imbued his whole life in the creation of art itself…George Condo in many ways is no different, & in many ways very reminiscent to many other European Painters…although born in America (b.1957) George Condo, in the 80’s, lived many years in Paris…rather than his Art being wholly taken by American Expressionism of this period & of the 50’s, Condo’s work seems European in Style & nature…in many ways his work represents the notion of having Duende…

…a heightened state of expression, that has historical remnants of Spain…

…of late, as a Painter, i’ve been obsessed with certain ideas: realms of thinking…being that the Painting as subject often deceives…as what is appearing on the surface seems one way, but a great image presents a sly nod to a multiplicity of universe here…the Painting is king…the Painting is Queen…the Painting…this multiplicity can at once be clear & at the same time abstracted, ambiguous, strange…though ideas on the Duende have started to elucidate many fragments of thinking I’ve had…this passion is very much instigated most in the work of George Condo…though there are others…

…a few days before today, a fellow Painter & myself were chatting about Painters…abstract versus figurative…renaissance portraits…the symphony of what is seen as a good image can at times be obliterated by just that…a great image…so in some senses to paraphrase Tim Stoner from a talk about John Hoyland…excellence has a deafening silence to it…it gives the viewer less to think about…in many ways it speaks of beauty being a whore (to quote Michael Cunningham), that is if you reduce the idea to a rather salacious end…regardless of our many digressions we both agreed that George Condo is one of thee greatest Painters…but not for the ways in which he is often recognised as…he is great for a numerous amount of reasons that don’t speak of the American Expressionist tradition of art, or Pop Art or Kanye West…though we will try to single out these reasons, even i can’t fully pin point why…there is something ambiguous about his perceptions on the creation of the image…which highlights an anecdote written by Picasso’s former wife François Gilot…Picasso saw the understanding of creating an image as magical…something a person must know something of to do it…he held this idea after seeing a woman’s Painting & hearing that she had never Painted before…he firmly held that this must have been a lie…the image was too put together to be from a novice…

…to talk about Condo’s vision is to bring into question many ideas related to European Old Masters, Picasso, & less spoken about German Expressionism…his work is simply Grosz with Satelitte TV & KFC, Kirchner on crack, Baselitz microdosing LSD…it’s in many ways too many things, but definitely Duende…it expresses a Passion for the ordeal that life truly is, but at the same time it being truly absurd…

…Condo’s influences, as Will Self wrote of in his essay entitled: Believing in the Cow… expresses many ideas relative to the study of psychology…reciting an anecdote in the writings of Oliver Sacks of a woman with Tourettes Syndrome walking New York Streets imitating everything and everyone she saw down to a tee…this notion of imitation is tetchy when in the hemisphere of art, as influence then needs to be measured in relation to originality, execution & so on…Condo, to the Painter friend that i mentioned seems to riff on too many artists, thus diluting who he is…was his position…he was a great Painter but not individual enough, compared to say Paul Klee, he mentioned…i disagree wholeheartedly as to be who one is, a person needs to use the world to establish individuality…which basically means that to paraphrase Guattari:

There is no abstract idea of a ‘stone’, only multiple stones that are as different from one another as a bird from a tree

…this is a longform way of coming to the understanding that a person is very much different, regardless, but more importantly in relation to Painting Condo is unclassifiable…which for me should be an aim of the Artist…

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.

…to quote the Painter Francis Bacon…

…we are all subjected to society & it is without doubt that Condo’s Paintings represent the thought that you may or may not cherry pick the best traits & utilize them however you see fit…doing this passionately illustrates Duende…

…layers of meaning sit in this perspective, though Condo does have his history of naysayers…there are plenty of opinions that oppose the thought that i’ve long held that in many ways, perhaps with Picasso, Condo is the greatest Painter…competition is rife…competition from all sides…Dalí, Klee, Caravaggio, Ensor…for me, as a fellow Painter it feels like a young comedian trying to perform after Eddie Murphy ‘Delirious’ or Richard Pyror…it seems magnanimous & a little foolish to try & best what’s in many ways perfection of a body of work…perfection of the perception of what Art is…perfection of skill too…Condo wouldn’t have looked out of place anytime throughout the History of Painting…especially in relation to the History of European Art…in many ways, i see him as a European Master, as although he has gone down in History in American Arts & Letters…his tradition is truly European…

…But he is simply deft and dexterous, aping R. Crumb and Philip Guston without any of the gutsiness or exposed inner life of these artists…. Any idea of the grotesque is replaced by burlesque and shtick. — Jerry Saltz, Ask An Art Critic…

This quote from Saltz defining Condo’s Painting as Shtick has run with me for years…in many ways, there is a reason for this, which i can see…rementioning the aforementioned truth that Condo has borrowed from a whole host of Painters, but too many to have aped anyone in particular, so therefore original…i’ve found this review of Condo’s work scathing & at times hostile but not as scathing & hostile of Saltz’ opinion on Francis Bacon…most of the Painting is in the middle, no where else…to paraphrase a highlight of that New Yorker article…but being someone that has used Picasso, Condo, Basquiat, Lam, to name just a few to become who i am as a Painter I have to simply refuse this perspective…Condo’s passion is that his Painting is accessible…it’s open as it works on a variety of levels which in some ways could engender the idea of his Painting being a shtick…schtick is infantilism, schtick is failure…schitick is not George Condo…just take his abstract works…they sing with complexity about: psychology, human connectedness, humor…& this skill is where Condo is mostly enthralled by the Duende…

…Condo is hilarious…he’s take that basically the world is ridiculous is herculean in its capacity to express itself…Guston was great, but for me not as funny…Picasso could compete but his work is often too serious (Guernica) in terms of its perception on Art History to truly fathom its humor, though it is there…with Basquiat Condo is suffering from the success of his own hands…whereas Basquiat is not here to see the fruits of his labor, Condo is & this has a lot to do with one Mr West…but we won’t go into too much detail of this because, like many others, Condo was well known before Mr West came into the subject…Condo is singular & due to his comedic tendencies, & now his popularity, is taken less seriously…if he were a relatively unknown New Yorker traipsing the streets of NYC struggling or perhaps succumb to an early death, Condo would easily have been just as lauded as Rothko…but the perception seems to remain for many, though not for me…the Duende is too strong…