GEORGE CONDO – INK DRAWINGS
2014-01-20Since the beginning of his artistic career, drawing and works on paper have formed an important part of George Condo’s working practice. Featuring monumental works on paper this exceptional series, realised over a six-month period, marks an exciting new area of focus for Condo.
“My intention with this body of work was to explore the extreme possibilities of ink on paper. I used the medium to create transparent layers of colors. I thought of Rothko at times and his overlapping veils of transcendental space. I placed the figure into this kind of space and used lines to define their ambiguous presence in the void.”
In Standing Bather, 2013 the female nude positioned centre of the composition embodies an angelic purity against the tempestuous background of dark browns and black. Through his elongation of the female form to grand dimensions and his application of gesso onto the paper, Condo imbues the figure with a sculptural quality and magnifies her figurative presence. Here as in other works in the series, the wash of colour dripping down the surface of the paper underscores the gestural freedom and spontaneity of drawing which Condo has embraced in this new body of work.
Opposite – Standing Bather, 2013
Exhibition runs from February 11th to April 5th, 2014
Skarstedt
23 Old Bond Street
London
W1S 4PZ
