Beschreibung:

George Condo Composite Figure No. 1 2003 gilded bronze 45 1/4 x 16 1/8 x 14 in. (114.9 x 41.1 x 35.6 cm) Stamped “GC, 2003” and numbered of three on the base. This work is from an edition of three.
Provenance Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich Catalogue Essay In his career’s second sculptural phase, George Condo abandons his idiosyncratic style of figurative grotesques by incorporating formalistic tenets of Greco-Roman sculpture. Condo’s frequent visits to the sculpture wings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art prompted him to use mythological figures as his subjects, and giving them a classicist edge by employing traditional principles of composition and proportion. Yet, Condo’s subjects hint at their psychological complexity through bestial shapes and bizarre features typical of his distinctive style. Composite Figure No.1, 2003, recalls the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) from the Greek myth “Judgment of Paris”; after being chosen by young Paris as the fairest among her competitors, including Athena and Helen, Aphrodite clutches the prized golden apple in her right hand. Condo’s chosen medium accentuates her smooth voluptuous curves; the shimmering effect of the gilded surface adds to the sensual elevation of the goddess of beauty. Yet, Condo’s Aphrodite, in her hollow cheeks and truncated lower visage, evokes the withered face of a wicked hag. Her focused gaze and hint of a smile, betray a scheming face. Incidentally, we must wonder whether the purpose of the apple is nourishment or death. Stripped of her divine serenity by an unbecoming face, Condo’s Composite Figure No. 1, 2003, exhibits both sensual beauty and grotesque vulgarity. Read More