A Review of Monster Chetwynd in Vienna

by Nina Prader // Nov. 25, 2024

Spartacus Chetwynd was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2012, and shortly after took the liberty of renaming themselves as Marvin Gaye Chetwynd. Now, in their latest form as Monster Chetwynd, it seems fitting that their first solo show in Austria—titled ‘Moths, Bats and Velvet Worms! Moths, Bats, and Heretics!’—takes place in Vienna, a city known for its long history of royalty and feudalism. In the show, curated by Axel Köhne and Andrea Kopranovic, Chetwynd cheekily introduces the Belvedere 21 audience to an anti-patriarchal heretic’s world order, by activating medieval signs, paper maché installations and giant puppets of living creatures. A stage of wonders—something like a Hieronymus Bosch painting but with a queer-feminist twist—comes to life in this exhibition.

Monster Chetwynd: ‘Silk and Beer (Wages for Housework),’ 2024 // Photo by Torvioll Jashari, © courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London / MASSIMODECARLO / Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich

The heretic is a dissident voice to the status quo. In medieval times, they were figures who questioned organized religion and at times, simultaneously, the state. This role is a key to unlocking the layers of meaning in the materials and activations of Chetwynd’s work. Silvia Federici’s seminal Marxist critique ‘Caliban and the Witch’ is also a guiding force. Dealing with feminism, feminized bodies and exploitative labor, the text reckons with a society that deems any woman who is self-determined a witch. Almost like scripture, Chetwynd draws on this reading and anthropological research, turning a direct quote from the text into the heretic’s song: “All the World Needs is A Jolt!” In this way, the heretic cries for change and a grassroots return of autonomous resources to the people. The heretic and the witch might be two sides of the same coin: they both call for universal emancipation.

Monster Chetwynd: ‘Moths, Bats and Velvet Worms! Moths, Bats and Heretics!,’ 2024, installation view, Belvedere 21 // Photo by Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien, © courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London / MASSIMODECARLO / Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich

At the press conference, Chetwynd mused that they might be working for a pagan God, like Dionysus, the Greek God of fertility, wine and excess. This comment became clear with their opening performance, entitled ‘Beer and Silk (Wages for Housework)’ (2024). On the eve of the spectacle, November 6th, the patriarchal world order was re-confirmed, as we woke up to America’s election results. In indirect counter-action—through puppetry, music, dance, song and some mandatory audience participation—Chetwnyd and their community of collaborators made visible the unpaid labors of care at the heart of all societies. Summed up in Leila Peacock’s accompanying song lyrics: “In this new division of labor, care work was not paid in paper.”

Monster Chetwynd: ‘Silk and Beer (Wages for Housework),’ 2024 // Photo by Torvioll Jashari, © courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London / MASSIMODECARLO / Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich

The large, central room in the museum was the backdrop for a carnivalesque scenography. It looked like a Renaissance festival ground gone mad, with elements of burlesque and pop and zoo-like associations throughout. Chetwynd used partitions to create boundaries between the audience and artwork, but it was still possible to look behind the looming makeshift wall, where the performers’ props, costumes, masks, wigs and paint buckets were on display.

Monster Chetwynd: ‘Silk and Beer (Wages for Housework),’ 2024 // Photo by Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien, © courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London / MASSIMODECARLO / Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich

From the balcony of Belvedere 21’s second floor, one could also look down onto a giant carpet—the stage for Chetwynd’s environment—depicting a horse with a wild grin, teeth and lolling tongue, collaged with medieval illustrations. On this tableaux-vivant-to-be, four installations created hubs. A wicker igloo housed giant paper maché moths and silkworms, described as “the unsung laborers of the soil.” Chetwynd has long been fascinated by the beauty and wit of moths, who can outsmart bats, thanks to their interfering radar sound. The nocturnal bat is also a reoccurring player, here. Often sidelined, a fuzzy puppet version waited by a giant cactus, ready to pollinate it. A dome with a paper maché piggy bank on top was meant to symbolize the commons—the shared and jeopardized land resources of the people. The relationship between capital, land and ownership was a core message in the show, underlined by another Leila Peacock song created for this work, called ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’: “The peasant who has no land remembers when the land was free.” Hell’s Gates can also be found here, made from cardboard and appearing like a gaping grimace. A throne-like chair carved from a single piece of wood enhances the vibe of this archaic court.

The materials Chetwynd uses might seem bric-à-brac, but in some ways they are priceless. The organic matter—representing animals, plants and humans—brought a much needed natural rupture to the otherwise sterile museum space. Similar to the aesthetic of the American political activist theater collective Bread and Puppet, this is art for the people and the environmentally-conscious. The DIY cardboard and paper maché are sustainable materials, making it an extremely light show to handle and dispose of—it recycles itself, a kind of reparative concept at its core. Contrary to the high art expectations of many museum audiences, it became clear that, in this case, irreverence might just be the best tool to change minds.

Exhibition Info

Belvedere 21

Monster Chetwynd: ‘Moths, Bats and Velvet Worms! Moths, Bats and Heretics!’
Exhibition: Nov. 7, 2024-Feb. 9, 2025
belvedere.at
Arsenalstraße 1/21er Haus, 1030 Vienna, Austria, click here for map