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 exploration which now informs his work. This examination of his own selfhood has created work that deconstructs socially accepted definitions of gender, sexual and racial identity, the intense scrutiny of his personal experience challenging those received wisdoms.

There are many, many examples of literary and visual artists who have adopted alternative personae to apprehend particular experiences, enabling them to physically and intellectually engage with specific discourses or critically interface with a public. The first few examples that come to mind are Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Selavy. Adrian Piper as The Mythic Being, writer Fernando Pessoa and his seventy-two ‘heteronyms’, writer and artist Brian O’Doherty as Patrick Ireland (and several others including Cindy Sherman’s many alter-egos); all characters functioning for time-limited or long term strategic purposes.

George Chakravarthi has similarly utilized this mode of inquiry and presentation to ‘de’ and ‘re’ construct definitions of gender, racial identity and sexuality within his live, photographic and video performances.

Chakravarthi considers much of his work to be a series of self portraits. As a multi-disciplinary artist he draws inspiration from cinema, art history, public and private spaces, and from collective social histories. Chakravarthi engages the viewer with his honest exploration of universal emotions. Using experiences from his own life, he often reveals painful situations, memories and experiences with an acute sensibility, cogent perceptions and generous humanity.

He has performed and exhibited nationally and internationally from venues as diverse as The Site Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Tate Modern, UK, Mousonturm, Germany, Tilburg Dance Academy, The Netherlands, The Queens Gallery, India to museums and public spaces.

He has been has been commissioned by the BBC, Artangel, INIVA, The Arts Council of England, The British Council, The National Review of Live Art, Body/Space/Image and more recently SPILL Festival and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

He has studied at The University of Brighton, The Royal Academy of Arts and The Royal College of Art where he finished his MA in 2003.

He was ‘Thinker in Residence’ at The Live Art Development Agency and lecturers at The University of Brighton.

George Chakravarthi lives and works in London.