George Chakravarthi was born in New Delhi, India. He was brought up as a Catholic, schooled by one of its rigorous teaching brotherhoods - yet, because of other family influences, he also absorbed both Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. This childhood, filled with a complex, multi-cultural trinity of deities, icons and belief systems, didn't particularly affect or disconcert him until his move to England at the age of ten. Settling in the UK wasn't so much a re-location as a dislocation, triggering an ongoing process of self-exploration, which now informs his work.

The analysis of identities permeates throughout the works, which deconstruct learned and socially accepted definitions of the gendered body, sexuality and cultural identity; the intense scrutiny of his personal experiences challenging those received wisdoms and limitations.

Chakravarthi’s self-portraits often offer intimate access to the psyche through personas and alters, interventions and collaborations, eliciting the viewer’s own revelations and conclusions through live, photographic and video works.

As a multi-disciplinary artist, he draws inspiration from a diverse range of lived and inherited cultures, histories and identities. Specific public sites and private spaces are integral, as are biographical and collective social histories. His own physical presence throughout the works has been vital in creating dialogues about visibility, race and queer identities. Complex cultural spaces and institutes often act as platforms to reveal fresh discourses about histories, politics and heritage.

In recent years he’s begun to slowly steer his work towards the spiritual, ethereal, mystical and esoteric knowledges and ideas, particularly related to the body and to nature. Culture-specific practices of rituals and yogas are explored in his ongoing photographic series, The Ambidextrous Universe. Chakravarthi has also been researching Indian tribal and folk practices and creating new works, including paintings in this composite approach.

He has performed and exhibited nationally around the UK at venues including Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Site Gallery, and internationally in Germany, Spain, Norway, Netherlands, Austria, USA and India.

He has been commissioned by the BBC, Artangel, INIVA, The Arts Council of England, The British Council, SPILL Festival of Performance, Duckie, The Live Art Development Agency, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

He has studied at The University of Brighton, The Royal Academy of Arts and The Royal College of Art.

He was ‘Thinker in Residence’ at The Live Art Development Agency and shortlisted for the Adrian Howells Award 2019.

George Chakravarthi lives and works across London and Cambridgeshire.

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