The Andy Griffith Show 1998TELEVISED SILKSCREENS main gallery: 3 December 1998 - 9 January 1999
silkscreen on canvas 70 x 98 inches
Watching Television 1998
silkscreen on canvas 62 x 80 inches
In his new work, Condo reaches in to the world of television imagery and pop media to arrive at a series of paintings that explore the cultural significance of television on the artist's creative process. The inspiration for Televised Silkscreens originated during the making of Condo Painting (directed by acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker John McNaughton; set for release by October films in 1999). Condo, at one point during filming, engages in a discussion on the question of believeability versus quality in reference to TV icons such as Granny, Andy Griffith and Ed Sullivan, comparing their unforgettable faces with portraits by Hals, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh. In this exhibition the emphasis is on formalizing thesee images into a compositional arrangement, where the final painting not only speaks about that the artist refers to as his "pre-conditioning" to fine art, but also his current analysis of how this information can be interpreted in our contemporary society as a viable translation into fine art.
Meditations on Andy (60 x 57 inches), refers to Andy Griffith, the subjeect of the painting, as well as Andy Warhol, who first championed the medium of silkscreen on canvas. Here Condo pays homeage to Warhol and Griffith, while maintaining his own take on both by putting them in the context of this original composition.
Get Dumb (50 x 100 inches), also included in the exhibition, brings together Don Adams from the famous TV series Get Smart, with Eddie Albert from Green Acres, and the characters from Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies.
Watching Television (62 x 80 inches), a painting that goes back to Condo's combinations from 1989-91, picturese a group of simultaneous stills that interact with one another according to the viewer's subjectivity; Monty Hall with his microphone; Ed Sullivan on the telephone; Lassie with her books; and Magilla Gorilla with his banana, perhaps watching the others on television as pictured in the still.
George Condo was born in New Hampshire in 1957. His first solo exhibition was in 1983. Most recently, his exhibition in January of 1998 at Pace Wildenstein received widespread critical attention and was featured in The New Yorker, The Village Voice, and The New York Times, as well as numerous other periodicals. Condo's work has been included in many exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe. HIs paintings, drawings and sculptures are in the permanent collections of major museums including: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museo d' Art Contemporani, Barcelona; and the Albright-Knox Museum, Purchase, NY. Condo currently lives and works in New York City.
This exhibition is presented in association with Pace Wildenstein. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-6pm. For further information, please contact Marianna Baer at 212 226 8195.