Marvin Gaye Chetwynd (b. 1973, London) is a British artist whose practice intertwines performance, sculpture, painting, installation and video. Chetwynd’s performances and videos harness elements of folk plays, street spectacles, music videos and surrealist cinema. They generally employ troupes of performers—friends and relatives of the artist—and feature handmade costumes and props. Through meandering, improvisatory and often burlesque dramas, she has ranged across a panoramic range of subjects. Chetwynd’s performances strike a darkly carnivalesque note, and tread an ambiguous line between melodrama, arcane ritual, and pop-cultural spoof.
The artist was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2012. Major performances include The Green Room (Nottingham Contemporary, 2014), Home Made Tasers (New Museum, New York, 2011-12), The Visionary Vineyard: Dreaming of Free Energy (Hayward Gallery, London, 2011, part of British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet), and A Tax Haven Run By Women (Frieze Projects, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2010). Recent solo exhibitions include Help! I’m trapped in a Muzuzah Factory (Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2008) and Spartacus Chetywnd (Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2007). Forthcoming solo presentations include those at Studio Voltaire, London, CCA Glasgow, and Cricoteka: Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor, Poland.