Marvin Gaye Chetwynd : Bat Opera

Marvin Gaye Chetwynd’s BAT OPERA documents her long-running series of paintings Bat Opera. Produced in the form of a flipbook, it chronicles the majority of the paintings in the series, which Chetwynd began over a decade ago. The paintings – identical size and landscape format – depict bats of diverse shapes and varieties, often within brooding landscapes dotted by architectural follies. They brim with allusions to art history, vintage cinema and theatrical scenery, channelling the eclectic spirit of the artist’s live performances, which are celebrated their similarly motley array of high- and low-brow references.