Marvin Gaye Chetwynd: The Stagnant Pool

For her first exhibition at the gallery, the British artist is presenting a number of new works relating to her performance practice as well as paintings from the Bat Opera series. While Chetwynd’s performance is marked by a high degree of improvisation, exuberant theatricality and a proclivity towards the bizarre and grotesque, the Bat Opera paintings are formally tightly controlled and have preserved the same format, palette, and subject matter for over a decade. They depict bats, close up and from afar, in dramatic skies and gothic landscapes, or the occasional toad, snake, or beetle. But as much as the series is restricted to the 15 x 20 cm format, the artist plays with a wide range of references and styles, evoking historical painting, zoological depictions as well as playing with aesthetic cues from popular culture. Finally, the show will also feature three diorama works and a series of new collages.