Film UbuWebSpartacus Chetwynd (b. 1973)
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Spartacus Chetwynd (b. 1973, London) is a British artist whose practice intertwines performance, sculpture, painting, installation and video. Her performances resemble folk plays or street spectacles, involving a fluid troupe of friends and family members. Their improvised props, costumes and scenery often form sculptural installations in their own right. Addressing subjects as diverse as Adam and Eve in the poetry of John Milton (The Fall of Man, Tate Britain, 2006) or ancient and modern systems of democracy (Odd Man Out, Sadie Coles, London, 2011), the performances strike a darkly carnivalesque note, and tread an ambiguous line between melodrama, arcane ritual, and pop-cultural spoof.
Spartacus Chetwynd studied Social Anthropology at University College London before studying art at the Slade and the RCA. She has performed and exhibited internationally. Major 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. Recent performances include 'The Visionary Vineyard: Dreaming of Free Energy', Hayward Gallery, London, 2011, and A Tax Haven Run By Women, Frieze Art Fair London, 2010. In 2010 she was shortlisted for the Jarman Award for video artists.
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