Mad Priest, 2004

About the Work

George Condo has not portrayed a loving pastor here, but rather an ugly mug, whose bulky, fleshy neck with no lower jaw ends directly in the face with a round clown's nose. The teeth, located between the neck and the cheeks and lined up like a row of white beads, give the impression of a crooked grin. But the gaze is not directed at us; the eyes, clouded in a grey haze, are staring into nothingness. The cigarettes sticking out of his ears and the carrot growing out of his forehead, its leaves pointing up into the sky, are symbols of the absurd, the surreal. But with all the strangeness inherent in the face, the choice of the image detail nonetheless classifies it as a classic shoulder-length portrait seen in front view, and the symbols used can be ascribed to the tradition of art history. It is a mix of Surrealism, Pop Art and cartoon which have been combined here to form a grotesque 'imaginary portrait'.