Master of ‘dark pop’ arrives in S. Korea

Featuring the 2010 album covers of Kanye West, who ran for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, are works of George Condo. A ballerina has a scared look on her face against a spooky green background. It has a face of a human, but its eyes make it unclear if it is a human or an animal.

Following the collaboration with West, the artist hand-painted West’s wife Kim Kardashian’s Hermes Birkin bag and worked with with street fashion brand “Supreme” on skateboard decks, which has given him celebrity status. Thanks to such popularity of his art, he now has a huge following in South Korea where about some 20 artworks of his will be displayed. The Page Gallery in Seoul’s Seongdong District will exhibit his large paintings, drawings and bronze sculptures.

Condo who was born in New Hampshire in the United States is based in New York. His latest painting “Red and Green and Purple Portrait” (2019) is a self-portrait. Strange large eyes like the ones of a cartoon character, angry-looking teeth, different views of a face pieced together and thick, rough, black outlines are characteristic features of his style of painting. He also has an exhibition in New York and says his recent works are about inequality that divides the United States.

Small paintings were drawn in Memphis in 2005. He recorded the restaurants, supermarkets and concert halls he visited as he would in a diary and painted the symbols of them in square canvases. The exhibition runs until January 23.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com