2117

Marvin Gaye "Monster" Chetwynd

(b. 1973, English)

"Medusa," 2018

Wood, cardboard, paper, latex, paint, and metal
Appears unsigned
98.125" H x 33.125" W x 38.25" D

  • Provenance: Sadie Coles HQ, London, England
    The Blake Byrne Collection, acquired from the above
  • Notes: Born Alalia Chetwynd, the artist is known by several unlikely monikers: Spartacus, Monster and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd. Her work frequently merges performance, installation, and video with painting and sculpture. Monster Chetwynd's oeuvre centers on reprising culturally significant myths, legends, and traditions. In the present example, she examines the ancient story of Medusa, a beautiful woman transformed into a serpent-haired demon as divine retribution. Perhaps her keen interest in reimagining this tale of woman-turned-monster is connected to her chosen namesake.

    Interestingly, while the figure stands over 8 feet tall, Monster Chetwynd's "Medusa" is menacing only in its scale. In keeping with a reoccurring theme in her oeuvre, Monster invites the viewer to reconsider typical portrayals of the subject in favor of recasting the legend anew for a present-day audience. Her version of Medusa includes the infamous snake hair but lacks the frightening grimace traditionally associated with her depiction in western art. As if popping out of an abstracted jack-in-the-box, hand-crank and all, Chetwynd's Medusa also possesses an unexpected element of whimsy. The myth of Medusa has origins in ancient Greece but is most famously recounted in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," a seminal text by the Roman poet written in the early first century CE.

    In 2012, Monster Chetwynd was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize. She exhibits widely and internationally and Chetwynd's work is held in institutions inclusive of the Tate in London.
  • Condition: Overall good condition with dust accumulation commensurate with age. Scattered scuffs and scratches to painted wood base element.

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November 9, 2021 11:30 AM PST
Monrovia, CA, US

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