The Neo-Expressionist movement emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a reaction against the dominant Minimalist and Conceptualist art movements of the time. It was characterized by a return to figurative painting and a renewed emphasis on the expressive qualities of art. The movement was marked by a focus on the individual, the subjective, and the emotional, and was characterized by a raw, gestural style that often incorporated elements of popular culture and mass media. Some of the key artists associated with the Neo-Expressionist movement include Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Eric Fischl, and George Condo. These artists shared a commitment to figuration and a rejection of the formalist tendencies of Minimalism and Conceptualism. They often incorporated a mix of high and low culture references in their work, blending elements of art history with images from popular media. George Condo is particularly associated with the Neo-Expressionist movement, as his work from the 1980s incorporated many of the movement's key characteristics. His paintings from this period often feature distorted faces and hybrid creatures that blur the line between reality and fantasy. Condo's work is known for its raw, gestural style, and its emphasis on the expressive qualities of painting. He has been credited with helping to revive interest in figurative painting at a time when abstraction was dominant in the art world.
