A number of common themes are apparent in Chakravarthi’s work including: •
Self-portraiture: Many of Chakravarthi's works are various forms of
self-portrait. •
Identity: Chakravarthi adopts numerous
alter egos with different
identities in his work; for example, he is male in some of the pieces within
‘Thirteen’, female for one of the characters in
‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’, transgender in
‘Barflies’, gay in
‘I Feel Love!’ and Indian in
‘Andhaka’. •
Race/multi-culturalism/racism: Jesus in
‘Resurrection’ is Indian and his hair, scattered over the table, is black in contrast to the (apparently) red hair of the white Jesus in Da Vinci's
The Last Supper, and the female disciples are all dressed in traditional Indian saris reflecting Chakravarthi's
cultural heritage (see the image of this work above). In
‘Olympia’ the servant is white and the “mistress” is Indian (see the image of this work above).
‘Negrophilia’ takes on the dichotomy between the fascination of some white audiences with black performers, e.g.
Josephine Baker in Paris, and racist imagery in Hollywood cinema of the same era, e.g. the number
′Hot Voodoo′ in
Blonde Venus, 1932 (Chakravarthi appears on stage in a gorilla costume), and subtly refers to evolution (ape to homo sapiens, and the origin of homo sapiens in the African continent). •
Gender/sexism/feminism: The female character in
‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’ is cast as a person to be married off and produce children for her husband. The twelve apostles in
‘Resurrection’ are all female, possibly alluding to the women apostles referred to in non-canonical Christian texts and in the Bible in Romans 16:7 (
female disciples of Jesus).
‘Miss UK’,
‘Masking’ and
‘Barflies’ in particular address
feminist politics. •
Sexuality/transvestitism: Chakravarthi dresses as female characters in many of his pieces of work, these include;
‘Memorabilia/Aradhana’,
‘Shakti’,
‘Barflies’,
‘Negrophilia’, some of the pieces within
‘Thirteen’,
‘Miss UK’ and
‘Andhaka’. In others (
‘Remotecontrol’ and
‘Olympia’) the characters are androgynous.
‘To the Man in my Dreams’ can be interpreted as a son coming out to his father, or the correspondence between a gay man in a role-play relationship with an older man, among other possibilities. Chakravarthi’s character in
‘I Feel Love!’ (in terms of dress, the music used and his placement on a plinth) is probably based on a go-go dancer in a gay club. •
Self image/idealisation of image:
‘Remotecontrol’,
‘I Feel Love!’,
‘Barflies’ and
‘Miss UK’ all concern themselves with striving to have the ‘right’ image whether in terms of body, dress or age. •
Religion:
‘Shakti’ and
‘Andhaka’ explicitly refer to the Indian goddess
Kali, and the
Last Supper from the Bible is the subject of
‘Resurrection’. The layering of the components within the images of
‘Thirteen’ gives them an appearance of stained glass, particularly when displayed backlit in light boxes (see the photograph above of some of these images backlit in an exhibition), this may be a more subtle religious reference. •
Iconic paintings: A number of iconic paintings are specifically and unmistakably referenced by some of Chakravarthi's pieces, with details of the sets as well as the main subjects; Da Vinci's
Mona Lisa in
‘Shakti’ and also his
The Last Supper in
‘Resurrection’, and Manet's
Olympia in
‘Olympia’. The use of gold and jewels in
Cleopatra (within
‘Thirteen’) is reminiscent of works by
Klimt (e.g.
Adele Bloch-Bauer, 1907). Numerous paintings by
Titian (e.g.
Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, 1548) make dramatic use of clouds as does Chakravarthi's
Lady Macbeth (also within
‘Thirteen’) – see the third image from the right in the photograph above of some of the images from
‘Thirteen’. == Personal life ==