The Kunsthaus Zürich hosts a comprehensive exhibition, The Trompe l’oeil Cleavage, by artist Monster Chetwynd from 16 May to 31 August 2025. Covering 25 years of her work, it includes existing pieces, new projects, and a display inspired by Rome’s Via Appia, featuring sculptures, performance documentation, and paintings from her Bat Opera series, which combine art-historical and zoological elements. Chetwynd (b. 1973, UK), based in Zurich since 2020, integrates performance, sculpture, and painting, drawing on influences from medieval plays, carnival theatre, and pop culture to create layered works.
The exhibition is organized into three distinct sections:
The first, inspired by the Via Appia, features a “parcours” of freestanding structures crafted from wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, fabric, and latex, including Hell Mouth (2025), Benjamin’s Head (2025), Flute Nose (2025), Buddleia (2025), Fortunes Favourite (2025), and Il tetto (2017). Several structures house videos documenting Monster Chetwynd’s performances, such as Born Free: The Death of a Conservationist (2004), The Walk to Dover (2005/2007), Debt – A Medieval Play (2005), A Tax Haven Run by Women (2011), and Odd Man Out (2011). Another structure displays Chetwynd’s Bat Opera series, small-scale paintings portraying bats in dramatic, theatrical scenes.
The second section comprises Performance Panels and dioramas. The Performance Panels serve as tangible archives, with large-scale panels showcasing props and costume pieces from past performances, preserving the ephemeral nature of performance as a lasting “mental image.” The dioramas juxtapose art-historical imagery with contemporary interpretations of the grotesque.
The third section presents all three episodes of the Hermitos Children film series in a dedicated space, shown together for the first time. Centered on telepathic investigator Joan Shipman, who employs unconventional and paranormal methods to solve enigmatic cases, often related to sex crimes, the series uses experimental storytelling to explore themes of gender, identity, and social norms with a playful yet incisive approach.
The exhibition presents all three episodes of Chetwynd’s Hermitos Children film series for the first time, blending experimental filmmaking with themes of collaboration and humanity, focusing on a telepathic detective solving unusual cases. Her bricolage method, influenced by Claude Lévi-Strauss, recontextualizes cultural elements from sources like Giotto and heavy metal, forming a multifaceted aesthetic. Chetwynd’s performances use improvisation, referencing travelling theatre and exploring themes such as gender and identity.
Since adopting the name ‘Monster’ in 2018, Chetwynd has challenged conventional notions of identity. The exhibition, supported by Swiss Re, is accompanied by a catalogue and offers guided tours. Additionally, Chetwynd will create a ‘folly’ sculpture for the Chipperfield building’s Art Garden, to be unveiled in late summer, backed by several foundations. This exhibition highlights Chetwynd’s contributions to contemporary art and her engagement with Zurich’s art community. Monster Chetwynd: The Trompe l’oeil Cleavage.
Solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Zürich. Zürich (Switzerland), May 15, 2025.
Press text (excerpt):
The Kunsthaus Zürich is pleased to present a comprehensive exhibition by the internationally celebrated artist Monster Chetwynd, running from 16 May to 31 August 2025. Titled ‘The Trompe l’oeil Cleavage’, it unites iconic pieces from 25 years of artistic practice with new projects, offering an in-depth insight into the work of one of the most innovative artists of our time. In 2012, she became the first performance artist nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize, and she is developing a participatory installation in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall for summer 2025 as part of Tate Play.
Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973, UK), who has lived in Zurich since 2020, employs a unique artistic language combining performance, sculpture, and painting. She studied anthropology and art, and her many-layered work blends influences from medieval mystery plays and carnival theatre with motifs from art history and pop culture, creating a humorous and profound trans-historical amalgam. The resulting worlds are truly immersive.
A TRANSFORMATIVE SPACE AT THE KUNSTHAUS ZÜRICH
The exhibition invites visitors to explore Chetwynd’s works in a presentation designed by her, inspired by the historical Via Appia near Rome with its monumental burial chambers. It integrates key works: sculptures, early performance documentation, and a selection of paintings from her ‘Bat Opera’ series, mixing art-historical references like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo with zoological images of bats. Elisabeth Bronfen writes in the catalogue: ‘Bat Opera forces us to view the scenes on show from a nocturnal perspective.’
PREMIERE OF ‘HERMITOS CHILDREN 3’
For the first time, all three episodes of the ‘Hermitos Children’ film series are shown together. These combine experimental filmmaking and surreal humour with reflections on collaboration and humanity, presenting Chetwynd’s performances in a new way. ‘My aim with “Hermitos Children” was to solve the dilemma of documenting the uniqueness of performances without losing their vitality,’ she explains. The series centres on the telepathically gifted detective Joan Shipman, who uses unconventional methods and paranormal powers to solve baffling cases, often related to sex crimes. The films’ episodic structure combines scenes from earlier performances with bizarre characters, psychedelic visuals, and absurd plot strands, exploring themes like gender, identity, and social norms.
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
Chetwynd’s work employs a bricolage method inspired by Claude Lévi-Strauss, creating complex systems of cross-references by recontextualizing elements with cultural significance. She weaves influences from high and pop culture, from Giotto’s frescoes to heavy metal music and Cousin Itt from the Addams Family, developing a multifaceted and accessible aesthetic. Chetwynd comments: ‘I feel drawn to surrealism, nonsense, and irreverence, as though they reflect my reality.’ Her performances, enlivened by deliberate improvisation, create a framework for spontaneous moments, recalling travelling theatre and grotesque spectacle. ‘I think of my performances as exploded paintings,’ she explains, describing how her works arise from intensive research and intuitive improvisation. Abandoning classical theatrical conventions, Chetwynd expands the role of performers, playing humorously with identities and cultural codes.
MY NAME IS MONSTER
Monster Chetwynd has influenced the art scene through the radicalism and creativity of her works and her unique personality. Her decision to adopt the artist name ‘Monster’ in 2018, after Marvin Gaye and Spartacus, mischievously questions conventions and confronts traditional ideas of identity. On choosing ‘Monster’, she comments: ‘I think the name works well because it is genderless, engulfing, inclusive, and undefined.’ Since moving to Zurich in 2020, she has enriched the local art scene and found new inspiration. This attachment to her chosen home makes the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich especially significant.
NEW PROJECT: AN INTERACTIVE HIGHLIGHT IN THE ART GARDEN
In parallel, Monster Chetwynd will be the first artist to create a commission for the Chipperfield building’s Art Garden, inaugurated in late summer. The sculpture draws on the tradition of the ‘folly’ – garden architecture fusing aesthetic playfulness with an apparent absence of practical use. The monumental, playful work will create a unique presence in the Chipperfield garden. Further details will follow at the end of August. This project is supported by the Hans Imholz Foundation, the Tarbaca Indigo Foundation, an anonymous foundation, and private patrons from the Gateway Fund, promoting contemporary art installations in public spaces.
