Miguel Condé: Dialogues

“I myself prefer wide-ranging conversation. I love a mix of interesting people from diverse worlds and opinions, even when they disagree fiercely.”

—Miguel Condé in conversation with Michael Peppiatt, from Miguel Condé: Pêle-mêle, 1972-2006.

Serge Sorokko Gallery is pleased to present Miguel Condé: Dialogues, featuring new works on canvas and paper. This is the artist’s second solo show at the Sorokko gallery in San Francisco. A private reception for the artist will be held on March 26th, and the exhibition will open to the public on March 27 and run through April 26, 2015.

A master painter and draftsman, Miguel Condé engages with the past and present creating enigmatic narratives that are as accessible and familiar as they are avant-garde. His work celebrates the comédie humaine, the intellectual and emotional interrelations of men and women, capturing their secretive intimate dialogues, timeless old world rituals, and the fantastic theatrical events of life.

Condé sets his scenes in earthy Italian Trecento colors—terracotta browns, pistachio greens, deep blues, and vibrant vermillion. Condé references the high Renaissance and the dramatic Baroque periods of art history in his work. He brings together and animates characters from ancient mythologies, classical literature, and modern times to perform in lively conversations and act out -2- poetic stories. Employing old master painting techniques, his canvases are built up in careful layers forming a rich patina. Condé’s virtuoso drawings possess a surety of line and sculpted volume. He is acclaimed by Radio France as "one of the most important contemporary masters of engraving.”

Miguel Condé presents us with nostalgic visions, portrayals of wanderers and travelers, the intellect of storytellers, and the seductive illusions and fantasies of our social species. His work is an open and continuing conversation between the artist—the processional performance carried out by his subjects—and the viewer.

“We are honored to present the work of Miguel Condé in San Francisco again,” says gallery owner Serge Sorokko, “his exquisite new works are technically impeccable and intellectually stimulating.”

Miguel Condé lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. He is a member of the French Society of Painters and Engravers. His mid-career retrospective was presented by Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, touring throughout Spain. Condé has received grants from the Smithsonian Institute, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and he was an artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Art Institute. His solo exhibitions include the Cleveland Art Museum, Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, the Scottish Arts Council in Edinburgh, Documenta 6 in Kassel, Germany, and Art Basel in Switzerland. His work is in important museum collections including, the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria; the Bibliothèque national de France; The Vatican Library, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain.

Serge Sorokko founded the Serge Sorokko Gallery in 1984, building a solid reputation on its collection of post-war and contemporary works by internationally recognized artists. Located in the heart of Union Square in downtown San Francisco, the gallery has introduced collectors to established European and American artists such as Damien Hirst, Sol LeWitt, Donald Sultan, Sean Scully, Antoni Tapies, and Jannis Kounellis. The gallery has fostered many emerging artists, offering a range of original art from painting and sculpture to works on paper and photography. In 2000, Serge Sorokko Editions began publishing the BAM Photography Portfolios I, II and III; featuring the work of Richard Avedon, Rineke Dijkstra, William Eggleston, Sally Mann, Richard Prince, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Nicholas Nixon, Annie Leibovitz, William Wegman, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Thomas Struth, to name a few.