MONSTER CHETWYND: A CAT IS NOT A DOG

MARCH, 3 – MAY 29, 2023

The art of Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973) interacts directly with the public. The British artist achieved fame with her exuberant and humorous performances employing handmade costumes, props, and stage sets. Her works are often absurd and full of the joys of life, and refer to popular culture or iconic works from history. With her installation in the publicly accessible Rotunda of the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, the artist reacts directly and playfully to the architecture of the location and has visitors enter the roofed-in space through the open mouths of her monstrous "Heads".

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

HUMOROUS, DIRECT, INTERACTIVE: THE SCHIRN PRESENTS A LOCATION-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION BY MONSTER CHETWYND IN ITS PUBLIC ROTUNDA

Here Chetwynd is referring at the same time to a motif from the Christian pictorial tradition: the “Hellmouth” or Gateway to Hell. As a passageway or entrance it was also modified, for example, in the "Sacro Bosco" near Bomarzo, an Italian sculpture garden from the sixteenth century, as well as in the artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s "Tarot Garden" in Tuscany. In Chetwynd’s work, too, walking along the passageway opens up an alternative space to the real outside world. Sustainability and participation are essential for Chetwynd’s creative activities; at the Schirn the artist makes existing sculptures tangible in a new, location-specific form.

CURATOR

Katharina Dohm, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, Monster Chetwynd in the installation, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Press Texts

Press information for the exhibition "Monster Chetwynd: A Cat ist not a Dog"

01.03.2023 | The Schirn is presenting a location-specific installation by the artist in its publicly accessible Rotunda from March 3 to May 29, 2023.

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Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view "Cat Head and Toxic Garden" (2022), 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view "Hell Mouth 3" (2019), 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, installation view "Il Tetto" (2017), 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, Monster Chetwynd in the installation, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd: A CAT IS NOT A DOG, Monster Chetwynd in the installation, 2023, © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2023, Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Monster Chetwynd, Still from Tate Shots video, © Monster Chetwynd, courtesy Tate and Sadie Coles HQ, London / Image: Joe Campbell / Oscar Oldershaw

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