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Condo Painting

2000, Movie, NR, 87 mins

Condo Painting: Review

CONDO PAINTING
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More a reflection in a fun-house mirror than a portrait of the artist, this profile of New York City painter George Condo is really an artistic collaboration with his biographer, filmmaker John McNaughton (HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, WILD THINGS). The film — a surreal, shot-on-video crazy-quilt of images and interviews, including final appearances by Condo's pals William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsburg — started out as a 15-minute video accompaniment to an exhibition of Condo's paintings. But McNaughton and Condo wound up enjoying themselves so much they decided to expand the project to feature-length. The result is a little like watching a home movie by two highly creative friends: It's great fun, even if the viewer isn't entirely in on the joke. For years Condo has been exploring what he terms "artificial realism," the realistic depiction of purely artificial figures, like faceless alien beings decked out in period costumes. Lately, however, Condo has been preoccupied with painting "antipodal beings," mysterious creatures who lurk in our psychic nether regions and look, according to Condo's bizarre and disturbingly cartoon-like visions, a little like the Banana Splits crossed with those floppy, wide-eyed puppy dogs doodled by preteen girls everywhere. McNaughton gets up close and personal with Condo as the painter struggles to capture on canvas a being he calls "Big Red"; in a flight of fictional fancy, Condo pursues Big Red in the real world with a little help from a masked assistant. Weird, you say? Wait until you hear Condo's theory of television and the history of art, in which he argues that Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies is every bit as important as the Mona Lisa; Granny, after all, had her own series. The soundtrack features a generous helping of songs by the Residents, perhaps the only band odd enough to fully do justice to Condo and his work. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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