George Chakravarthi

{{Short description|Multi-disciplinary artist}} {{Use British English|date=April 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = George Chakravarthi | image = George Chakravarthi (portrait).jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1969|11|26}} | birth_place = New Delhi, India | occupation = Artist | years_active = 1998 to present | website = [http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/ www.georgechakravarthi.com] }}

'''George Chakravarthi''' is a British multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, video, painting and performance. His work addresses the politics of identity including race, sexuality and gender, and also religious iconography among other subjects. He was born in India and moved to London, England in 1980.<ref name="About George Chakravarthi" />

He has exhibited and performed all over the UK and internationally at venues including Site Gallery, Sheffield, England; Tate Modern, London, England; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany; Dance Academy (Tilburg), Tilburg, Netherlands; Queens Gallery, British Council, New Delhi, India;<ref name="About George Chakravarthi" /> La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain;<ref name="El Cultural"/> Brut Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria;<ref name="Negrophilia Vienna"/> Abrons Arts Center, New York City, USA;<ref name="Abrons Arts Center - Just Like A Woman"/> and City Art Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia.<ref name="Ljubljana 2022"/>

Chakravarthi has been commissioned by the BBC, Artangel, Duckie, InIVA, the Arts Council of England, the British Council, the SPILL Festival of Performance, the Live Art Development Agency, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Royal Shakespeare Company.<ref name="Brighton University - George Chakravarthi">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi|url=http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/staff/george-chakravarthi|publisher=University of Brighton|access-date=5 February 2015}}</ref>

Chakravarthi studied at the University of Brighton, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal College of Art.<ref name="InIVA - George Chakravarthi">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi – Artist|url=http://www.iniva.org/library/archive/people/c/chakravarthi_george|publisher=InIVA|access-date=5 February 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Early life == thumb|x160px|left|Early photo booth self-portraits by Chakravarthi Chakravarthi was born in New Delhi, India on 26 November 1969 to parents with origins in Tamil Nadu, India and British Burma. His parents considered the education of their children a priority, so the family lived very modestly in order for him and his siblings to be privately educated while in India. Chakravarthi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi,<ref name="St. Columba's website">{{cite web|title=St. Columba's School, Delhi website|url=http://www.stcolumbas.edu.in/|publisher=St. Columba's School, Delhi|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> an English-medium school run by a Roman Catholic brotherhood (Congregation of Christian Brothers). Although nominally brought up as a Catholic, Chakravarthi's family encouraged him to absorb and be influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.<ref name="www.georgechakravarthi.com - Biographical information">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi – Bio|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/bio/|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Nikki Millican interview by Zane Trow">{{cite web|last1=Millican|first1=Nikki|title=Being, not performing|url=http://www.realtimearts.net/article/issue50/6849|publisher=Brisbane Powerhouse Centre for the Live Arts|access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref>

In 1980, Chakravarthi moved with his family to the UK.<ref name="dislocation" /> This was around the time of the Brixton and other riots,<ref name="BBC Brixton riots">{{cite news|title=1981: Brixton riots report blames racial tension|date=25 November 1981 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546233.stm|publisher=BBC|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> and the peaks for organised racism and electoral success of the far-right (National Front General election results in May 1979). Mary Brennan, reviewing the National Review of Live Art in 2001, described the effect on Chakravarthi of his move to the UK as follows: {{Cquote|''[He] entered into a kind of mirror-maze, where he found himself searching for a sense of who he was. In time, that quest for identity has embraced issues of iconography, sexuality, race, and gender – all framed, as it were, within a personal reconstruction of familiar fine art.''|author=Mary Brennan<ref name=MaryBrennan2001>{{cite web|last1=Brennan|first1=Mary|title=Join in the Mexican wave The events of five packed days of the National Review of Live Art are previewed|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/join-in-the-mexican-wave-the-events-of-five-packed-days-of-the-national-review-of-live-art-are-previewed-by-mary-brennan-1.198774|publisher=Herald Scotland|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>}} He continued his education at St. Patrick's Primary School<ref name="St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Plumstead">{{cite web|title=St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Plumstead|url=http://www.stpatricksprimary.org.uk/}}</ref> and St. Paul's Secondary School in south London, both Roman Catholic, multi-cultural schools. He began documenting his reactions to his new environment and his changing identity through writing and drawing, and then making photographic self-portraits (initially using photo booths<ref name="LADA unSeen">{{cite web|title=unSeen|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/publishing/unseen/|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="dislocation">{{cite web|last1=Keegan|first1=Sinead|title=The dislocated artist|url=https://allthesins.co.uk/2017/05/18/the-dislocated-artist/|website=All the sins|date=18 May 2017 |publisher=All the sins|access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref> until he was given a camera by the sculptor and photographer Hamish Horsley<ref name="Hamish Horsley website">{{cite web|last1=Horsley|first1=Hamish|title=Hamish Horsley|url=http://hamishhorsley.com/|publisher=Hamish Horsley|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>).

Chakravarthi left home at the age of 16 and eventually settled in a modest flat in Greenwich, London. He had a variety of jobs including stacking shelves in supermarkets, as a go-go dancer in various nightclubs and as a photographic and artist's model. He attended a short course in photography at the Thames Independent Photography Project (TIPP) where his interest in photography and particularly making self-portraits was encouraged.<ref name="BBC Shooting Live" />

== Formal training == <gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Resurrection by George Chakravarthi.jpg|'' 'Resurrection' '' by Chakravarthi File:Olympia by George Chakravarthi.jpg|'' 'Olympia' '' by Chakravarthi </gallery> Chakravarthi was an undergraduate at the University of Brighton. He obtained a first-class Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performance Art. For the degree show he submitted ''′Resurrection′'' (a photograph 12 feet by 5 feet) and a live performance, the subject of both was The Last Supper, with Chakravarthi in the place of Jesus and women dressed in saris in the positions of the disciples, as depicted by Leonardo da Vinci.<ref>{{cite web|title=Resurrection|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/photography/|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=10 January 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143306/http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/photography/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He received an award from Nagoya University for outstanding artistic achievement.

He started his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Arts and,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/george-chakravarthi |website=Royal Academy|title=George Chakravarthi | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts }}</ref> after taking a year out, he completed his Master of Arts at the Royal College of Art in 2003. For the final show at the Royal College of Art, he submitted ''′Olympia′'', a video installation based on the painting by Édouard Manet, with Chakravarthi in the position of the nude woman and a white man in the place of the black servant woman;<ref name="youtube olympia">{{cite web|title=Olympia by George Chakravarthi|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBxoC0CASfw|publisher=Youtube/George Chakravarthi|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> it won him the Chris Garnham Award for 'Best Use of Photography'.

== Career == <gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Barflies by George Chakravarthi.jpg|'' 'Barflies' '' by Chakravarthi File:Thirteen by George Chakravarthi.jpg|'' 'Thirteen' '' by Chakravarthi </gallery> {| class="wikitable" |- ! scope="col" width="16%" | Name of work/ Type ! scope="col" width="14%" | Date/ Commission ! scope="col" width="35%" | Exhibitions or performances ! scope="col" width="35%" | Description |- valign="top" | '''Remotecontrol''' ''(Video installation)'' || 1997 || * 2002 part of 'Third Sex' solo show, Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition" /> * 2003 part of 'George Chakravarthi – a solo show', Sketch, London<ref name="Chakravarthi at Sketch" />

|| Chakravarthi as an androgynous person inspired by fashion photography and the politics of an 'ideal body'. |- valign="top" | '''Memorabilia/Aradhana''' ''(Video installation)'' || 1998 || * 1998 National Review of Live Art, Glasgow * 1999 Dance Academy (Tilburg), Tilburg, Netherlands * 2002 part of 'Third Sex' solo show, Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition">{{cite web|title=Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition|url=http://www.sitegallery.org/archives/1260|publisher=Site Gallery|access-date=11 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> * 2003 part of 'George Chakravarthi – a solo show', Sketch, London<ref name="Chakravarthi at Sketch">{{cite web|title=Chakravarthi at Sketch|url=http://www.in-the-spirit.co.uk/barbuzz5.html|publisher=In the Spirit|access-date=11 January 2015|archive-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410200929/http://www.in-the-spirit.co.uk/barbuzz5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 2003/4 The Big M National Tour (ISIS Arts, Newcastle upon Tyne),<ref name="ISIS Big M">{{cite web|title=Big M|url=http://www.isisarts.org.uk/the-big-m|publisher=ISIS Arts|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> UK || An homage to Bollywood cinema. Chakravarthi plays both characters and it reflects the typical style and content of popular Indian cinema of the 1980s. However, the subtitles confront sexist assumptions and patriarchy. |- valign="top" | '''Genesis''' ''(Video installation)'' || 1998 || * 1998 National Review of Live Art, Glasgow * 1999 Dance Academy (Tilburg), Tilburg, Netherlands * 2002 part of 'Third Sex' solo show, Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition" /> * 2003 part of 'George Chakravarthi – a solo show', Sketch, London<ref name="Chakravarthi at Sketch" /> * 2007 Free To Air screening<ref>{{cite web|title=Free To Air|url=http://www.freetoair.org.uk|publisher=Free To Air|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

|| Filmed in real-time, Chakravarthi reveals a series of emotions from happiness to extreme sadness. <blockquote>"''[A] large-scale video projection of face and upper body, proudly showcases the artist's body, while offering a more intimate emotional aspect, which destabilises Western codes of behaviour.''" – Fine Art Visiting Speaker Forum<ref name="George Chakravarthi - Genesis">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi – Genesis|date=15 March 2009 |url=http://fineartvisitorprogramme.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/george-chakravarthi-blog.html|publisher=Fine Art Visiting Speaker Forum|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''Introjection''' ''(Video installation)'' || 1998 || * 1998 National Review of Live Art, Glasgow * 2002 part of 'Third Sex' solo show, Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition" /> * 2003 part of 'George Chakravarthi – a solo show', Sketch, London<ref name="Chakravarthi at Sketch" />

|| <blockquote>"''A short film about narcissism, identity, self-image, internal reflection and loss.''" – George Chakravarthi<ref name="George Chakravarthi - Video">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi – Introjection Video|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/videos-1/2015/2/23/introjection-1997|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=17 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref></blockquote>

|- valign="top" | '''Resurrection''' ''(Live performance)'' || 1998 || * 1998 National Review of Live Art, Glasgow * 1999 Dance Academy (Tilburg), Tilburg, Netherlands || Chakravarthi, with a shaved head and naked, takes the position of Jesus in the Last Supper tableau as painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and he is accompanied by twelve female disciples wearing saris. Hair is strewn over the table. |- valign="top" | '''Resurrection''' ''(Photographic)'' || 1998 || * 1999 Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham * 2004/5 British Council, tour of India

|| Still image of posed version of the live performance above. |- valign="top" | '''Shakti''' ''(Video installation)'' || 2000 || * 2001 National Review of Live Art, Glasgow<ref name=MaryBrennan2001 /> * 2002 part of 'Map Making', Bath Festival, Bath * 2004/5 British Council, tour of India<ref name="The Hindu">{{cite web|last1=Perappadan|first1=Bindu Shajan|title=Exploration of the 'self'|url=http://www.thehindu.com/lf/2004/04/20/stories/2004042000750200.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150208011642/http://www.thehindu.com/lf/2004/04/20/stories/2004042000750200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 February 2015|work=The Hindu|date=2004-04-20|access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref> * 2007 Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery - Shakti">{{cite web|title=Site Gallery – Shakti|url=http://www.sitegallery.org/archives/2320|publisher=Site Gallery|access-date=10 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=Tina|title=Five questions for... George Chakravarthi|url=http://metro.co.uk/|agency=Metro|publisher=Metro|date=June 2007}}</ref><ref name="Amelia Jones - Sexuality">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Amelia|title=Sexuality|date=August 2014|publisher=The MIT Press|isbn=9780262526579}}</ref> || Chakravarthi as an hybrid combination of Mona Lisa and the Indian goddess Kali with a landscape of naked women in the background. |- valign="top" | '''Barflies''' ''(Triptych video installation)'' || 2002 BBC and Arts Council of England || * 2002 Saatchi & Saatchi, London<ref name="BBC Shooting Live">{{cite web|title=Shooting Live|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/shootinglive/2002/georgechakravarthi/index.shtml|publisher=BBC|access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref> * 2002 part of 'Third Sex' solo show, Site Gallery, Sheffield<ref name="Site Gallery George Chakravarthi Exhibition" /><ref name="George Chakravarthi - Guardian - 29 Aug 2002">{{cite web|last1=Hickling|first1=Alfred|title=George Chakravarthi|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/aug/29/art.artsfeatures|date=August 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref> * 2003 part of 'George Chakravarthi – a solo show', Sketch, London<ref name="Chakravarthi at Sketch" /> * 2004 Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton * 2005 La Casa Encendida, Madrid<ref name="El Cultural">{{cite web|title=Cita con la danza más rara - Elena Córdoba actúa en Madrid y coincide con el ciclo In-Presentable|url=http://www.elcultural.com/articulo_imp.aspx?id=12231|website=El Cultural}}</ref><ref name="Encuentro con George Chakravarthi">{{cite web|title=Encuentro con George Chakravarthi|url=http://bibliotecas.montemadrid.es/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1801&query_desc=an%3A19164|website=Fundacion Montemadrid}}</ref> * 2006 Tate Modern, London<ref name="About George Chakravarthi">{{cite web|title=About George Chakravarthi|url=http://www.artangel.org.uk//projects/2006/to_the_man_in_my_dreams/about_george_chakravarthi/about_george_chakravarthi|publisher=Artangel|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> * 2013 City of Women Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia<ref name="Ann-Sofie Öman - Barflies">{{cite web|last1=Öman|first1=Ann-Sofie|title=Ann-Sofie Öman on Barflies by George Chakravarthi|url=http://www.cityofwomen.org/en/content/2013/ann-sofie-oeman-barflies-george-chakravarthi|publisher=City of Women/Danstidningen|access-date=29 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Ljubljana - Barflies">{{cite web|title=Barflies|url=http://www.cityofwomen.org/en/content/2013/project/barflies|publisher=City of Women|access-date=29 January 2015}}</ref> * 2018 - 2019 LADA Screens (online screening) <ref name="LADA Screens">{{cite web |title=LADA Screens |url=https://vimeo.com/channels/ladascreens/306203458 |publisher=Live Art Development Agency |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="this is tomorrow - Barflies">{{cite web |title=LADA Screens: George Chakravarthi |url=http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/lada-screens-george-chakravarthi |publisher=this is tomorrow - Contemporary Art Magazine |access-date=10 January 2019}}</ref> * 2020 LADA Summer Programme (online screening) <ref name="LADA Summer Programme 2020">{{cite web|title=LADA Summer Programme 2020: George Chakravarthi|url=https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/events/ladas-summer-programme-week-4/#george-chakravarthi |website=LADA |publisher=Live Art Development Agency}}</ref>

|| Chakravarthi as three specific types of transgender women filmed in bars with a soundtrack of conversations on a telephone chat line between the artist and other transvestites and those that seek them. <blockquote>"''George Chakravarthi is what is politely known as a bundle of contradictions... The sequence follows his alter egos through three phases of transvestism, from frumpy to flirty and fetishistic... In the first piece, Chakravarthi seems to have raided a charity shop in a bid to look like his mum... In the final sequence, Chakravarthi slips into a slinky corset and... we see him confidently seducing inebriated men, having progressed from housewife to hooker in three easy stages.''" – Alfred Hickling<ref name="George Chakravarthi - Guardian - 29 Aug 2002" /></blockquote>

|- valign="top" | '''Great Expectations''' ''(Live performance with video)'' || 2002 || * 2002 Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool || Chakravarthi sitting with his back to the audience in front of a video projection also showing the back of his head. |- valign="top" | '''Olympia''' ''(Video installation)'' || 2003 || * 2003 Royal College of Art, London * 2004/5 British Council, tour of India * 2005 Kunstbanken, Hamar, Norway<ref name=Kunstbanken>{{cite web|title=Kunstbanken|url=http://kunstbanken.no/english_1/|publisher=Kunstbanken Hedmark Kunstsenter|access-date=17 January 2015|archive-date=21 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221155445/http://kunstbanken.no/english_1/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Olympia - Kunstbanken">{{cite web|title=Olympia|url=http://sceneweb.no/en/production/39027/Olympia|publisher=Scene Web|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> * 2007 Big Screen, Cornerhouse, Manchester<ref name="Big Screen, Cornerhouse, Manchester">{{cite web|title=Big Screen, Cornerhouse, Manchester|url=http://www.cornerhouse.org/art/art-events/on-the-big-screen-11-31-august-2007|publisher=Cornerhouse, Manchester|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> * 2009 Victoria and Albert Museum, London

|| <blockquote>"''Chakravarthi is seen as 'Olympia', a sexually ambiguous figure, dark, transfixed and oblivious to his/her white, male servant. The tension between the two characters is filled with ambiguity too, suggesting emotions of, love, hate, lust and obsession.''" – Cornerhouse, Manchester<ref name="Big Screen, Cornerhouse, Manchester" /></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''To the Man in my Dreams''' ''(Installation and live performance)'' || 2006 Artangel || * 2006 Comptons, Soho, London (live), Bethnal Green Town Hall, London (exhibition) and Madame Jojo's, Soho, London (interviewed by Neil Bartlett)<ref name="Artangel To the Man in my Dreams">{{cite web|title=Artangel To the Man in my Dreams|url=http://www.artangel.org.uk/projects/2006/to_the_man_in_my_dreams|publisher=Artangel|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> || A collaborative project with members of SW5, a London advice and information service for male, female and transgender sex workers (now known as SWISH). A collection of letters between someone who calls himself 'father' and 'George'. |- valign="top" | '''Masking''' ''(Film)'' || 2009 Live Art Development Agency || <div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">'''{{color|grey|Not applicable}}'''</div>

|| Short film produced to celebrate LADA's tenth anniversary. <blockquote>"''′Masking′ is an investigation of the visual creation and identification of archetypal and racially motivated images in pornography... This short film of 'The Blonde' and 'The Black Diva' is a study of some of the reoccurring stereotypes in pornography.''" – LADA<ref name="LADA Tenth Anniversary Short Films - George Chakravarthi">{{cite web|title=Tenth Anniversary Short Films – George Chakravarthi|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/tenth-anniversary-short-films-george-chakravarthi|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''I Feel Love!''' ''(Durational live performance)'' || 2009 SPILL Festival of Performance || * 2009 Soho Square, London<ref name="I Feel Love">{{cite web|title=I Feel Love|url=http://spillfestival.com/show/i-feel-love/|publisher=Spill Festival|access-date=10 January 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122829/http://spillfestival.com/show/i-feel-love/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Elevated Exhibitionism - R L Clapham">{{cite web|last1=Clapham|first1=Rachel Lois|title=Elevated Exhibitionism|url=http://spilloverspill.blogspot.co.uk/|date=April 2009|publisher=Open Dialogues|access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Guardian - I Feel Love">{{cite web|last1=Toms|first1=Katie|title=The present doctor will see you now|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2007/dec/09/featuresreview.review|work=The Guardian|date=9 December 2007 |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> || An outdoor performance lasting all day that examines ways in which the body is traditionally portrayed in public sculpture, memorials and popular culture. |- valign="top" | '''Ode to a Dark Star''' ''(Video installation)'' || 2009 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust || * 2009 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford upon Avon<ref name="Shakespeare's Birthday">{{cite web|title=Shakespeare's Birthday Events|url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/WSbirthday09.htm|publisher=British Theatre Guide|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> || Chakravarthi in costume as both Shakespeare and the 3rd Earl of Southampton in a looped video displayed in a frame, giving the impression of a painting with some motion. The Cobbe portrait of Shakespeare was shown for the first time in the same exhibition ''(Shakespeare Found: a Life Portrait)''. There is also a Cobbe portrait of Southampton. |- valign="top" | '''George Chakravarthi UnSeen''' ''(DVD)'' || 2009 Live Art Development Agency || <div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">'''{{color|grey|Not applicable}}'''</div> || A slide-show of early, photographic self-portraits by Chakravarthi. The photographs show him experimenting with his identity; they represent the earliest documentation of the experiences which inform much of his current work. The soundtrack is a conversation between Chakravarthi and Andrew Mitchelson in which Chakravarthi talks about his childhood experiences in India and London, and about feeling an outsider as far as both cultures are concerned.<ref name="LADA unSeen" /> |- valign="top" | '''Negrophilia''' ''(Live performance)'' || 2010 Duckie || * 2010 Duckie, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London * 2014 ALAG: A Live Art Gala (celebration of 15th Anniversary of the Live Art Development Agency (LADA)), Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London<ref name=ALAG>{{cite web|title=ALAG|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/live-art-development-agency-15th-anniversary/|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Guardian - ALAG 27 Jan 2015">{{cite web|last1=Paterson|first1=Mary|title=Live art performers take a hammer to arts funding debate|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2015/jan/27/live-art-ethical-fundraising-challenge-artists-auction|date=27 January 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 January 2015}}</ref> * 2014 Brut Künstlerhaus,<ref name=Brut-Wein>{{cite web|title=Brut-Wein|url=http://www.brut-wien.at/en/|publisher=Brut Wein|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> Vienna, Austria<ref name="Negrophilia Vienna">{{cite web|title=Negrophilia|url=http://www.duckie.co.uk/events/duckie-nye-in-vienna|publisher=Duckie|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Abrons Arts Center, New York City (part of LADA's 'Just Like A Woman: NYC Edition Programme')<ref name="Abrons Arts Center - Just Like A Woman">{{cite web|title=Just Like A Woman|url=http://www.abronsartscenter.org/performances/past/just-like-a-woman.html|website=Abrons Arts Center|publisher=Abrons Arts Center|access-date=24 September 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090214/http://www.abronsartscenter.org/performances/past/just-like-a-woman.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="LADA - Just Like A Woman: NYC Edition Programme">{{cite web|title=Just Like A Woman: NYC Edition Programme|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/just-like-a-woman-nyc-edition-programme|website=LADA|publisher=LADA|access-date=11 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Abrons Arts Center - Negrophilia">{{cite web|title=Negrophilia|url=http://www.abronsartscenter.org/performances/lada-jlaw/jlaw2015-11-negrophilia.html|website=Abrons Arts Center|publisher=Abrons Arts Center|access-date=24 September 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="American Theatre - Just like a woman">{{cite web|title=Not Just the Wild, Crazy Queer Stuff at Abrons's Just Like a Woman Festival|url=http://www.americantheatre.org/2015/10/16/not-just-the-wild-crazy-queer-stuff-at-abronss-just-like-a-woman-festival/|website=American Theatre|date=16 October 2015 |publisher=Theatre Communications Group|access-date=17 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="Just Like a Woman - Guardian 22 Oct 15">{{cite web|last1=Keidan|first1=Lois|title=Live Art: the research lab for mass culture|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2015/oct/22/live-art-the-research-lab-for-mass-culture|work=The Guardian|date=22 October 2015 |access-date=30 October 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Chelsea Theatre, London (part of LADA's 'Just Like A Woman: London Edition Programme')<ref name="Just Like a Woman - Guardian 22 Oct 15"/><ref name="LADA - Just Like A Woman: London Edition Programme">{{cite web|title=Just Like A Woman: London Edition Programme|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/just-like-a-woman-at-chelsea-theatre|website=LADA|publisher=LADA|access-date=11 September 2015|archive-date=6 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106233954/http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/just-like-a-woman-at-chelsea-theatre|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Chelsea Theatre - Negrophilia">{{cite web|title=PERFORMANCES/SACRED: Gender Spectacle Cabaret|url=https://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/project/gender-spectacle-cabaret/|website=Chelsea Theatre|publisher=Chelsea Theatre|access-date=7 November 2015|archive-date=20 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120221259/https://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/project/gender-spectacle-cabaret/|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 2015 The Citadel, St Helens, Merseyside (part of Duckie's 'Twenty First Century Music Hall')<ref name="Duckie - Twenty First Century Music Hall">{{cite web|title=Twenty First Century Music Hall|url=http://www.duckie.co.uk/events/twenty-first-century-music-hall|website=Duckie|publisher=Duckie|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Heart of Glass - Duckie">{{cite web|title=Duckie: 21st Century Music Hall|url=http://www.heartofglass.org.uk/events/duckie-21st-century-music-hall/|website=Heart of Glass|publisher=Heart of Glass|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-date=20 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120220342/http://www.heartofglass.org.uk/events/duckie-21st-century-music-hall/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Vada magazine - Duckie St Helens">{{cite web|title=Duckie presents 21st Century Music Hall – Preview: Duckie hits St. Helens for Homotopia|url=http://vadamagazine.com/10/11/2015/arts/duckie-presents-21st-century-music-hall-preview|website=Vada magazine|date=10 November 2015 |publisher=Vada magazine}}</ref><ref name="LADA - Heart of Glass, St Helens">{{cite web|title=Duckie Competition for Through the Looking Glass|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/blog/duckie-competition-for-through-the-looking-glass/|website=LADA|date=5 November 2015 |publisher=LADA}}</ref> || ''Negrophilia'' is inspired by the Parisian avant-garde culture of the 1920s and its fascination with Africanism (Negrophilia), Hollywood cinema's negative portrayals of Africa and Africans in the same era and the performer Josephine Baker. Chakravarthi reveals himself dressed, as Baker famously did, in a banana skirt and pearls.<ref name="Abrons Arts Center - Negrophilia"/> <blockquote>"''Good art makes you see the world differently – whether it's George Chakravarthi shimmying in drag from inside a gorilla suit at ALAG, or Turner's spectacular landscapes hanging in the Tate.''" – Mary Paterson<ref name="Guardian - ALAG 27 Jan 2015" /></blockquote> <blockquote>″''George Chakravarthi's dance performance in which he transforms from an ape to a chorus girl, skewering the histories of racism, evolution and exhibitionism in one long, seductive move''″ – Mary Paterson<ref name="Mary Paterson ALAG essay">{{cite web|last1=Paterson|first1=Mary|title=A Live Art Gala|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/uploads/documents/Mary_Paterson-_A_Live_Art_Gala.pdf|website=LADA|publisher=LADA|access-date=5 September 2015}}</ref></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''Thirteen''' ''(Photographic – comprises 13 separate images)'' || 2011 Royal Shakespeare Company || * 2011 Swan Room, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon<ref name="Thirteen at RSC">{{cite web|title=Thirteen at RSC|url=http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/george-chakravarthi.aspx|publisher=Royal Shakespeare Company|access-date=10 January 2015|archive-date=12 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141212195247/https://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/george-chakravarthi.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Shakespeare and suicide: George Chakravarthi's Thirteen|url=http://theshakespeareblog.com/2011/12/shakespeare-and-suicide-george-chakravarthis-thirteen/|publisher=The Shakespeare Blog|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> * 2014 Impressions Gallery, Bradford<ref name="Guardian - Impressions Gallery">{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Robert|title=Art – this week's new exhibitions – 22 Mar 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/22/this-weeks-new-exhibitions|work=The Guardian|date=22 March 2014 |access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Impressions Gallery - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=Thirteen at Impressions Gallery|url=http://www.impressions-gallery.com/exhibitions/exhibition.php?id=63|publisher=Impressions Gallery|access-date=11 January 2015|archive-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206155332/http://www.impressions-gallery.com/exhibitions/exhibition.php?id=63|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph & Argus 31 Jan 2014">{{cite web|title=Bard's doomed characters are brought to life at Bradford gallery|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/leisure/tatheatre/10975901.Bard___s_doomed_characters_are_brought_to_life_at_Bradford_gallery/|publisher=Bradford Telegraph & Argus}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph & Argus 10 Feb 2014">{{cite web|title=Dark side of Shakespeare|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/archive/2014/02/10/10998889.Dark_side_of_Shakespeare/|publisher=Bradford Telegraph & Argus}}</ref><ref name="Aesthetica Magazine review of Thirteen at Impressions Gallery">{{cite web|title=Aesthetica Magazine Review|url=http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/blog/george-chakravarthi-thirteen-impressions-gallery/|publisher=Aesthetica Magazine|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="F-Stop Magazine Review">{{cite web|title=F-Stop Magazine Review|date=7 February 2014 |url=http://www.fstopmagazine.com/blog/2014/02/george-chakravarthi-impressions-gallery/|publisher=F-Stop Magazine|access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="The Indian Quarterly review of Thirteen">{{cite journal|title=The Indian Quarterly review of Thirteen|journal=The Indian Quarterly|date=April 2014|volume=2|issue=3}}</ref><ref name="Yorkshire Times - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=Death, Drama And Identity: Thirteen Exhibition|url=http://yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Death-Drama-And-Identity-Thirteen-Exhibition|publisher=Yorkshire Times|access-date=12 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Bradford Festival - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi: Thirteen|url=http://www.bradfordfestival.org.uk/whatson/george-chakravarthi-thirteen|publisher=Bradford Festival|access-date=29 January 2015|archive-date=11 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211184839/http://www.bradfordfestival.org.uk/whatson/george-chakravarthi-thirteen|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="New Focus - 13">{{cite web|last1=Hamid|first1=Shaila|title=Review by Shaila Hamid 'Feed Your Mind' at Impressions Gallery George Chakravarthi, 'Thirteen'|date=4 June 2014 |url=https://newfocusblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/review-by-shaila-hamid-feed-your-mind-at-impressions-gallery-george-chakravarthi-thirteen/|publisher=New Focus/Impressions Gallery|access-date=29 January 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Vane Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne<ref name="Vane Gallery - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=Vane Gallery – Thirteen|url=http://vane.org.uk/exhibitions/george-chakravarthi-thirteen|publisher=Vane Gallery|access-date=19 January 2015|archive-date=12 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212011132/http://vane.org.uk/exhibitions/george-chakravarthi-thirteen|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Globe Gallery Newcastle">{{cite web|title=Globe Gallery – Thirteen|url=http://www.globegallery.org/archive-georgechakravarthi.php|publisher=Globe Gallery|access-date=27 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="a.n - Thirteen at Vane 23 Feb 2015">{{cite web|title=NOW SHOWING #84: The week's top exhibitions|url=https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/now-showing-84-the-weeks-top-exhibitions|publisher=a-n The Artists Information Company}}</ref><ref name="The List - Thirteen at Vane">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi: Thirteen|url=https://www.list.co.uk/event/400761-george-chakravarthi-thirteen/|publisher=The List|access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="England Events - Thirteen - Newcastle">{{cite web|last1=Stevens|first1=Ben|title=Newcastle upon Tyne: George Chakravarthi: Thirteen|url=http://englandevents.co.uk/newcastle-upon-tyne-george-chakravarthi-thirteen/132012|publisher=England Events|access-date=5 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Arts Council - Vane - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=Art News – George Chakravarthi: Thirteen, Vane|url=http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-news/post/george-chakravarthi-thirteen/|publisher=Arts Council England|access-date=6 March 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Globe Gallery, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne<ref name="The Journal - Thirteen at Globe">{{cite web|last1=Whetstone|first1=David|title=Popular Globe Gallery set to reopen in new city centre location|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/culture/culture-news/popular-globe-gallery-set-reopen-8874768|publisher=The Journal|access-date=19 March 2015|date=19 March 2015|archive-date=22 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322143904/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/culture/culture-news/popular-globe-gallery-set-reopen-8874768|url-status=dead}}</ref> || Self-portraits of Chakravarthi in costume as thirteen Shakespeare characters (male and female) who committed suicide. Each image is layered with textures including cobwebs, mould, stone, water and clouds. Backlit transparencies in light boxes, characters about life-size.<ref name="Lite House - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=04. Royal Shakespeare Exhibition – Artwork by George Chakravarthi|url=http://www.lite-house.co.uk/caseStudies.html|publisher=Lite House Europe Ltd|access-date=29 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Metro - Thirteen">{{cite web|title=Metro Supports George Chakravarthi – Thirteen|url=http://www.metroimaging.co.uk/news/metro-supports-george-chakravarthi|publisher=Metro Imaging|access-date=29 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="dislocation" /> <blockquote>''"Suicide might be the theme but it is difficult not to feel uplifted by the beauty of these images."'' – David Whetstone<ref name="The Journal - Thirteen at Globe" /></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''Miss UK (an archive)''' ''(Live performance in three parts)'' || 2011 Duckie || * 2011 Duckie, Royal Festival Hall, London<ref name="Miss UK at Royal Festival Hall">{{cite web|title=Miss UK|url=http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/music/gigs-contemporary/tickets/duckie-best-of-british-59980|publisher=South Bank Centre|access-date=10 January 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083212/http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/music/gigs-contemporary/tickets/duckie-best-of-british-59980|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Tonight! Duckie turns Sweet 16">{{cite web|title=Tonight! Duckie turns Sweet 16|url=http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/Interact/Blogs.aspx?articleid=8537&sectionid=739|publisher=Gay Times|access-date=5 February 2015}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> || A dance floor posing piece that celebrates the glamour and absurdity of beauty contests in the UK from the 1960s to the 90s (such as Miss United Kingdom). |- valign="top" | '''Andhaka''' ''(Live performance)'' || 2013 Live Art Development Agency || * 2013 City of Women Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia<ref name="Andhaka in Ljubljana">{{cite web|title=Andhaka in Ljubljana|url=http://www.wherevent.com/detail/Klub-Tiffany-Andhaka-performans|publisher=WherEvent|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="City of Women - Andhaka">{{cite web|title=George Chakravarthi – Andhaka|url=http://www.cityofwomen.org/en/content/2013/project/andhaka|publisher=City of Women|access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref> || A one-to-one durational performance. Chakravarthi is present in darkness and is finally revealed in a flood of light as Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction and creation.<ref name="Emergency Index 3">{{cite book|editor1-last=Gluzman|editor1-first=Yelena|editor2-last=Yankelevich|editor2-first=Matvei|title=Emergency Index – an annual document of performance practice – Vol 3|date=2014|publisher=The Bros. Lumiere for Ugly Duckling Press|isbn=978-1-937027-50-6|pages=506–507}}</ref> <blockquote>''"reaction[s] to the performance came in extremes... most... emotional, often tearful, some tapped into their own fears and... felt threatened... Both reactions were... integral to the work."'' – George Chakravarthi<ref name="Emergency Index 3" /></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''Barflies''' ''(Photographic)'' || 2014

|| <div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">'''{{color|grey|Not applicable}}'''</div> || Edition of fifteen, signed sets of three prints based on the 2002 video installation ''Barflies'' (see above). Produced for the Live Art Development Agency's 15th Anniversary Limited Editions series.<ref name="Barflies prints">{{cite web|title=Barflies prints|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/publishing/15th-anniversary-print-george-chakravarthi-barflies-triptych-polaroid-print/|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=12 January 2015}}</ref> |- valign="top" | '''The Ambidextrous Universe''' ''(Photographic)'' || 2015

|| * 2015 House of St Barnabas, Soho, London

|| Six self-portraits, which are the first pieces of work emerging from Chakravarthi's current and ongoing research known as ''The Ambidextrous Universe''.<ref name="GC - Ambidextrous - wordpress">{{cite web|title=The Ambidextrous Universe – Research|url=https://georgechakravarthi.wordpress.com/|access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref> The images explore symmetry and emphasise the fractal construction of objects in nature and religious architecture.<ref name="The Ambidextrous Universe - HOSB">{{cite web|title=The Ambidextrous Universe|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/events/2015/2/23/the-ambidextrous-universe|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=6 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="George Chakravarthi - Photography">{{cite web|title=Photography|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/photography/|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=6 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143306/http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/photography/|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- valign="top" | '''Border Force - I Did ′India′''' ''(Performance installation)'' || 2015 Duckie || * 2015 Camden Centre, Camden Town Hall, London (27 June 2015)<ref name="Duckie - Border Force">{{cite web|title=Border Force|url=http://www.duckie.co.uk/events/border-force|publisher=Duckie|access-date=16 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="GC - Border Force (London)">{{cite web|title=Border Force (London)|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/events/2015/6/27/border-force|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=16 June 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Brighton Dome, Brighton (1 August 2015)<ref name="Duckie - Border Force"/><ref name="GC - Border Force (Brighton)">{{cite web|title=Border Force (Brighton)|url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/events/2015/8/1/border-force|publisher=George Chakravarthi|access-date=16 June 2015}}</ref> || Performance installation as part of a Duckie 'geo-political-immersive-disko' confronting xenophobia and promoting freedom of movement.<ref name="Duckie - Border Talk">{{cite web|title=Border Talk (recording of the panel event held prior to the first Border Force event)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOLTEqs7AkQ|publisher=Duckie}}</ref><ref name="Joshua Sofaer - Border Force">{{cite web|title=Border Force|url=http://www.joshuasofaer.com/2015/05/border-force/|publisher=Joshua Sofaer|access-date=16 June 2015}}</ref> <blockquote>''"UK nationals have freedom of movement to 174 countries and territories (89% of the countries of the world), ranking the British passport 1st (tied with Finnish, German, Swedish and the US). By comparison, having an Afghanistan passport gives you free access to just 28...'' ''Although ancient Indian culture offers many examples of same sex love and, for example, the veneration of transgendered gods, homosexuality in India was criminalised (under British rule) in the 1860s. The law may not be enforced and India has seen a smattering of same sex weddings but there is no legislation in place to protect LGBTQI rights. The ‘Gay Happiness Index’ which measured acceptance of same-sex relationships in 127 countries of the world, put ... India 81st..."'' – Joshua Sofaer<ref name="Joshua Sofaer - Border Force"/></blockquote> |- valign="top" | '''Let Them Eat Cake''' ''(Performance installation)'' || 2016 Duckie || * 24 and 25 June 2016, Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London<ref name="Duckie - Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball">{{cite web|title=Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball|url=http://www.duckie.co.uk/events/lady-malcoms-servants-ball|website=Duckie|publisher=Duckie|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Live Art UK Duckie: Lady Malcolm’s Servants’ Ball">{{cite web|title=Duckie: Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball|url=http://www.liveartuk.org/blog/duckie-lady-malcolms-servants-ball/|website=Live Art UK|publisher=Live Art UK|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>

|| Performance installation as part of Duckie's 'Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball'. Chakravarthi, as Marie Antoinette, hand feeds slices of a cake decorated with a map of the British Empire to members of the audience - referencing feasts and famines across the British Empire. |- valign="top" | '''Negrophilia''' ''(Film screening)'' || 2016 || * 30 November 2016 TRANS LIVE ART SALON at the Live Collision International Festival, Dublin<ref name="livecollision">{{cite web|title=Just Like a Woman|url=http://www.livecollision.com/portfolio/just-like-a-woman/|website=livecollision|date=8 November 2016 |access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref> * 9 to 19 February 2017 IBT17 Bristol International Festival, Bristol<ref name="IBT17">{{cite web|title=IBT17|url=http://www.inbetweentime.co.uk/whats-on/live-art/|website=IBT17|access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref> || |- valign="top" | '''Mata Bahucharaji (Goddess of Eunuchs)''' ''(Painting)'' || 2016 || * Stonewall Season (fundraising auction event, to stand by the side of all LGBT people worldwide)<ref>{{cite book|title=Stonewall Season - Closing Celebration (catalogue of auctioned artwork)|date=2016|publisher=Stonewall|page=22}}</ref> || |- valign="top" | '''An Indian in a Box''' ''(Performance installation)'' || 2021 Duckie || * 6 to 10 September 2021, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, London<ref name="Princess">{{cite web |title=Princess: The Promenade Performance |url=http://www.duckie.co.uk/events/princess-promenade |publisher=Duckie |access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="GC Indian in a Box">{{cite web |title=An Indian in a Box |url=http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/new-page-1 |publisher=George Chakravarthi |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906083148/http://www.georgechakravarthi.com/new-page-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 14 to 15 July 2022, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham<ref>{{cite web |title=Princess Picnic Promenade |url=https://duckie.co.uk/events/princess-picnic-promenade |publisher=Duckie |access-date=20 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Healing Gardens of Bab: Princess, Picnic, Promenade |url=https://www.birmingham2022.com/festival/2641778/healing-gardens-of-bab-princess-picnic-promenade |publisher=Birmingham 2022 Festival}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Duckie (London) Princess, Picnic, Promenade |url=https://wearefierce.org/event/princess-picnic-promenade/ |publisher=Fierce Festival}}</ref> * 6 October 2022, City Art Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia <ref name="Ljubljana 2022">{{cite web |title=An Indian in a Box |url=https://2022.cityofwomen.org/en/content/indian-box |website=City of Women |access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref>

|| Live, durational performance installation as part of Duckie's 'Princess: The Promenade Performance', inspired by the queer history of Georgian London. Chakravarthi presents issues of enslavement, voyeurism, fetishisation and isolation as experienced by the victims of Human Zoos, also known as Ethnological Expositions - a shameful practice that endured during the colonial era, which continued into the 1950s, and as late as the 1990s in some countries across Europe. Captured and encased in a glass cabinet, Chakravarthi, in Georgian gentleman's attire, presents himself as a living object of curiosity and an exoticised creature. The performance in Slovenia was part of the 'International Festival of Contemporary Arts – City of Women', Chakravarthi was dressed in Slovene national costume. || |- valign="top" | '''AUM''' ''(Site-specific, multi-media project - video, sound and photography )'' || 2022 Nomad Projects || * September and October 2022, Phytology, Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Tower Hamlets, London<ref name="Phytology">{{cite web |title=George Chakravarthi at Phytology|url=https://phytology.org.uk/projects/george-chakravarthi/ |website=Phytology |publisher=Phytology |access-date=2 September 2022}}</ref><ref name="Bethnal Green Nature Reserve">{{cite web |title=George Chakravarthi AUM |url=https://bethnalgreennaturereserve.org/projects/george-chakravarthi-aum |website=Bethnal Green Nature Reserve |publisher=Bethnal Green Nature Reserve |access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

|| New body of work exploring Indian spiritual and tribal practices instigated while being the artist in residence at Phytology throughout 2022. See the image below of the billboard launching the work. || |- valign="top" | '''The Ascension of the Bearded Lady''' ''(Performance installation)'' || 2023 Duckie || * 1 July 2023, Finsbury Circus Gardens, London<ref name="Duckie Summer Fete 2023">{{cite web |title=Duckie Summer Fete |url=https://duckie.co.uk/events/duckie-summer-fete |publisher=Duckie |access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

|| Live, durational performance installation as part of the 'Duckie Summer Fete'. || |- valign="top" |'''Self-Portrait As An Unknown Devadasi''' ''(Photograph)'' |2023 | * July 2023 - January 2024, The Kennedy Gallery, Scarborough Museum, Toronto, Canada <ref>{{Cite web |last=Toronto.com |first=Mike Adler |date=2023-06-27 |title='It's never happened' before: Queer Tamil Collective exhibition at Scarborough Museum is first outside Sri Lanka |url=https://www.toronto.com/things-to-do/its-never-happened-before-queer-tamil-collective-exhibition-at-scarborough-museum-is-first-outside-sri/article_de512f52-8c7a-5f5b-831b-6a580265637f.html |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Toronto.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-30 |title=Scarborough Museum |url=https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/museums/scarborough-museum/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=City of Toronto |language=en-CA}}</ref> |Part of the exhibition ‘Oor’ and produced by The Queer Tamil Collective | |} <gallery mode="packed" heights="240"> File:George Chakravarthi An Indian in a Box01 result.jpg|'' 'An Indian in a Box' '' London performance File:GeorgeChakravarthi.AnIndianinaBoxSlovenia.04.jpg|'' 'An Indian in a Box' '' Ljubljana performance File:AUM George Chakravarthi Billboard.jpg|'' Billboard launching 'AUM' '' by Chakravarthi </gallery> In 2003 Chakravarthi was involved in the Live Art Development Agency's "''Live Culture''" event<ref name="Live Culture at Tate Modern">{{cite web|title=Live Culture at Tate Modern|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/live-culture-at-tate-modern|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> at Tate Modern, contributing to Guillermo Gómez-Peña's collaboration.<ref name="Guillermo Gomez-Pena">{{cite web|title=Masterclass with Guillermo Gomez-Pena|url=http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/opportunities/masterclass-with-guillermo-gomez-pena/|publisher=Live Art Development Agency|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref>

On 22 October 2024 at the Queer Heritage and Collections Network Symposium 2024, held at Kensington Palace, the keynote event was "In conversation with George Chakravarthi - discussion facilitated by Richard Sandell".<ref>{{Cite web |title=_QHCN Symposium 2024 - Digital Programme |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/18iOK2vtQ0PIocepEa0g8-TVN9q3qJRXfNGeOTKkCQno/edit?usp=drivesdk |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=Google Docs |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications== *A survey of Chakravarthi's work can be found in "''Sexuality (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art)''" Edited by Amelia Jones, 2014.<ref name="Amelia Jones - Sexuality" /> *''"What do relationships mean to you? - Emotional Learning Cards"'' - image of ''Barflies'' used to represent gender identity.<ref>{{cite book|title=What do relationships mean to you?|date=November 2016 |publisher=Space, iniva, Arts Council England|isbn=978-1-899846-59-7}}</ref> *''"Performance Research - On Trans/Performance"'' - image of ''UNTITLED05, The Ambidextrous Universe'' used for cover.<ref>{{cite journal|editor1-last=Jones|editor1-first=Amelia|journal=Performance Research|title=On Trans/Performance|date=October 2016|volume=21|issue=5|page=Cover|publisher=Routledge|issn=1352-8165}}</ref> *''"Agency - a partial history of live art"'' - conversation between Chakravarthi and Manuel Vason, and image of ''Negrophilia''.<ref name="LADA - Agency">{{cite book |editor1-last=Schmidt |editor1-first=Theron |title=Agency - a partial history of live art |year=2019 |publisher=Live Art Development Agency |isbn=978-1-78320-990-3 |pages=29–38 }}</ref> *A still image from Chakravarthi's ''Olympia'' appears in "''Rebels, radicals and revolutionaries: art and social change''" by Marie-Anne Leonard <ref>{{cite web |author1=Marie-Anne Leonard |title=Rebels, radicals and revolutionaries: art and social change |url=https://www.canon-europe.com/view/rebels-radicals-revolutionaries-art-social-change/ |date=December 2020|publisher=Canon Europe |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>

== Themes == A number of common themes are apparent in Chakravarthi’s work including: * '''Self-portraiture''': Many of Chakravarthi's works are various forms of self-portrait. * '''Identity''': Chakravarthi adopts numerous alter egos with different identities in his work; for example, he is male in some of the pieces within ''‘Thirteen’'', female for one of the characters in ''‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’'', transgender in ''‘Barflies’'', gay in ''‘I Feel Love!’'' and Indian in ''‘Andhaka’''. * '''Race/multi-culturalism/racism''': Jesus in ''‘Resurrection’'' is Indian and his hair, scattered over the table, is black in contrast to the (apparently) red hair of the white Jesus in Da Vinci's ''The Last Supper'', and the female disciples are all dressed in traditional Indian saris reflecting Chakravarthi's cultural heritage (see the image of this work above). In ''‘Olympia’'' the servant is white and the “mistress” is Indian (see the image of this work above). ''‘Negrophilia’'' takes on the dichotomy between the fascination of some white audiences with black performers, e.g. Josephine Baker in Paris, and racist imagery in Hollywood cinema of the same era, e.g. the number ''′[http://vimeo.com/24008320 Hot Voodoo]′'' in ''Blonde Venus'', 1932 (Chakravarthi appears on stage in a gorilla costume), and subtly refers to evolution (ape to homo sapiens, and the origin of homo sapiens in the African continent). * '''Gender/sexism/feminism''': The female character in ''‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’'' is cast as a person to be married off and produce children for her husband. The twelve apostles in ''‘Resurrection’'' are all female, possibly alluding to the women apostles referred to in non-canonical Christian texts and in the Bible in Romans 16:7 (female disciples of Jesus). ''‘Miss UK’'', ''‘Masking’'' and ''‘Barflies’'' in particular address feminist politics. * '''Sexuality/transvestitism''': Chakravarthi dresses as female characters in many of his pieces of work, these include; ''‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’'', ''‘Shakti’'', ''‘Barflies’'', ''‘Negrophilia’'', some of the pieces within ''‘Thirteen’'', ''‘Miss UK’'' and ''‘Andhaka’''. In others (''‘Remotecontrol’'' and ''‘Olympia’'') the characters are androgynous. ''‘To the Man in my Dreams’'' can be interpreted as a son coming out to his father, or the correspondence between a gay man in a role-play relationship with an older man, among other possibilities. Chakravarthi’s character in ''‘I Feel Love!’'' (in terms of dress, the music used and his placement on a plinth) is probably based on a go-go dancer in a gay club. * '''Self image/idealisation of image''': ''‘Remotecontrol’'', ''‘I Feel Love!’'', ''‘Barflies’'' and ''‘Miss UK’'' all concern themselves with striving to have the ‘right’ image whether in terms of body, dress or age. * '''Religion''': ''‘Shakti’'' and ''‘Andhaka’'' explicitly refer to the Indian goddess Kali, and the Last Supper from the Bible is the subject of ''‘Resurrection’''. The layering of the components within the images of ''‘Thirteen’'' gives them an appearance of stained glass, particularly when displayed backlit in light boxes (see the photograph above of some of these images backlit in an exhibition), this may be a more subtle religious reference. * '''Iconic paintings''': A number of iconic paintings are specifically and unmistakably referenced by some of Chakravarthi's pieces, with details of the sets as well as the main subjects; Da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa'' in ''‘Shakti’'' and also his ''The Last Supper'' in ''‘Resurrection’'', and Manet's ''Olympia'' in ''‘Olympia’''. The use of gold and jewels in ''Cleopatra'' (within ''‘Thirteen’'') is reminiscent of works by Klimt (e.g. ''Adele Bloch-Bauer'', 1907). Numerous paintings by Titian (e.g. ''Equestrian Portrait of Charles V'', 1548) make dramatic use of clouds as does Chakravarthi's ''Lady Macbeth'' (also within ''‘Thirteen’'') – see the third image from the right in the photograph above of some of the images from ''‘Thirteen’''.

== Personal life == Chakravarthi is married and lives in London and Leicestershire. He and his husband have been together since January 1994, they were legally married at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Road, London in May 2006 (their civil partnership having later been converted into marriage).<ref name="GRO - Order certificate">{{cite web|title=General Register Office|url=https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp|publisher=GRO}}</ref>

==See also== * Chakraborty - meaning of the name Chakravarthi.

==References== {{reflist|3}}

== External links == * {{Official website|www.georgechakravarthi.com}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeviYggTcIw Show-reel of selected works of Chakravarthi 1997 - 2015 on YouTube] * [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWiCLa_1_jqXT1tyHrOiHBA Chakravarthi videos on YouTube] * [https://soundcloud.com/impressions-gallery/artist-talk-with-george Chakravarthi interview] at Impressions Gallery, Bradford 12 April 2014 (audio) * [https://newfocusblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/adelaida-afilipoaie-meets-george-chakravarthi/ Chakravarthi interview] by Adelaida Afilipoaie April 2014 (audio) for Ramair, Bradford University Student Radio * [http://www.iniva.org/events/2010/making_the_cut_2 Making the Cut – George Chakravarthi and Campbell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206130856/http://www.iniva.org/events/2010/making_the_cut_2 |date=6 February 2015 }}, in conversation with InIVA curator Grant Watson (with links to audio recording and photographs), 2010

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakravarthi, George}} Category:Living people Category:1969 births Category:Artists from London Category:British video artists Category:British installation artists Category:British political artists Category:Indian political artists Category:British performance artists Category:British LGBTQ artists Category:Conceptual photographers Category:British LGBTQ photographers Category:Alumni of the University of Brighton Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art Category:Artists from New Delhi Category:Indian emigrants to England Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom