Emerging from the East Village’s dynamic art scene of the 1980s, alongside personalities such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, George Condo soon developed his own visual language, coined as ‘Artificial Realism’, which he explained as “the realistic representation of that which is artificial” (George Condo quoted in Emily Nathan, ‘artnet Asks: George Condo Sees Faces and Screaming Heads Everywhere, Artnet, 14 October 2015, online).

Condo’s fascination with portraiture was inherent to the revival of figurative painting that emerged in the 1980s, and he has continued to investigate the genre throughout the decades by different.mes diums, such as sculpture as exemplified by The Walrus.. His oeuvre draws on a wide range of historical genres, traditions and movements, the most prominent being the influence of Old Master portraiture. Condo entwines these stories with elements of American Pop Art to formulate his distinctive visual language and signature range of figures within a uniquely contemporary discourse. Referring to his works as portraits, the American artist complicates its traditional classification. Throughout history, portraiture aimed to capture the essential character of the individual through a faithful reproduction of the sitter’s likeness. Instead, Condo’s inimitable figures serve as a mirror for human nature - their embellished features contorting into expressions of pain and anger which are at once sympathetic and repulsive, and encourage the viewer to wonder at their own contradictory nature. Condo is not just interested in representing the raw realities of the human psyche, but the effect that viewing these representations has on the mental state of his audience.

The Walrus is an example of Condo’s signature cartoon-like anomal and grotesque characters. The artist reprises the format of a classical bust, presenting a grinning face with an unnaturally elongated neck. The figure’s wide smile extends from ear to ear, exposing cavities along the jawline. One of the eyes is squinting, while the other is distorted, with a disproportionate pupil which contributes to its terrifying appearance. Glancing carefully at the composition, a second, ghost-like figure appears under the main one, emerging on the left. The highly textured flesh of the character enhances its monstrous nature, resulting in a composition that appears both ludicrous and savage. The present work is part of a series of sculptures which were first executed in clay in the artist’s home during four weeks, between February and March 2005. Indeed, the rapidity of their creation is emphasised by their fleeting gazes and facial expressions. In the present work, the figure’s highly expressive facial features open up a psychological dialogue; the portrait is paradoxical, simultaneously smiling and screaming, hence conveying a duality of fear and enjoyment, euphoria and hysteria.

Simultaneously captivating and grotesque, the present work exceptionally encapsulates Condo’s concept of Artificial Realism. Although the viewer immediately recognises it as a portrait, it can be read as a caricature of the traditional technique and a macabre doppelganger of human life. In a t.mes when personalities are constructed and emotions and feelings have to be calculated carefully, Condo exposes the inner truth behind the masquerade.