I attended a performance of Aida at The Metropolitan Opera in NYC last week, and as I entered the courtyard at Lincoln Center, I saw this big, bold, gold sculpture on the terrace of the Metropolitan Opera building. I’ve long been a fan of George Condo’s painting, and didn’t realize that this was a Condo art work until I saw a small billboard on the courtyard level that said “Constallation of Voices, 2019, by George Condo, GalleryMet, curated by Dodie Kazanjian, Grand Tier Terrace, courtesy of the artist.”
It seems that the artist has had a history of interacting with The Metropolitan Opera, as he created this short film back in 2014, set to music from the “Carmen” opera by Georges Bizet. Condo also exhibited a diptych painting back in 2006 when the “GalleryMet” exhibition space was launched, and again with a solo exhibition titled “Jesters” on the occasion of the production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in 2013.
But back to “Constellation of Voice” – it measures 13 feet tall and is covered in 24-karat-gold-leaf. I was able to walk out onto the terrace before the Aida performance began and shared this view of the Lincoln Center courtyard.
The gold surface shimmers and glows even more once the sun goes down … here’s a view during the intermission. While reading a little background info for this post, I learned that Condo studied music theory in college in addition to art history, and that soon after college he played bass in a band in Boston, so he has a personal history of music along with his better-known art.
