Only a few metres away from the Musée D’Orsay in the centre of Paris, another art space has piqued the curiosity of passersby. It’s rare in a city that is bleeding with exhibitions that something truly unique is presented to the public. But the Dragclown Affairs exhibition is the first in history to tackle the subject of ‘drag clowns’ and it features a familiar face to anyone active in the local queer scene, namely, the artist Klonn.

Klonn, Gabriel Chetcuti’s drag name/alias, is one of the unofficial faces of the local queer/alternative nightlife scene. With a precise yet intricate face of make-up, draped in clothes of a baroque flair, Malta’s premier drag clown humbly steals the attention from anyone else in the room.

Dragclown Affairs is the brainchild of the art historian, lecturer and independent curator Rémi Baert. The Dragclown Affairs exhibition presents the approaches of 13 drag clown artists from around the world.

Baert first discovered the artists on Instagram as part of his PhD thesis, which focuses on the figure of the clown in the field of queer performance from the end of the 1970s to the present day. Dragclown Affairs situates the practices of drag clown artists in a broader art historical context and even proposes possible rereading of crucial material.

The artworks were made in collaboration with artists Matthew Mamo and Sofia Kuzmenko, the duo behind the ceramic’s studio THISS Clay. Photo: Klonn

“I think the terms ‘drag’ and ‘clown’ are interchangeable. There is a lot of shared history and roles. Both art forms are part of the tapestry of the weird and the wonderful. The success of both art forms lies in the embellishment of the self and both rely on your body as the conduit for their art. Both open up to the possibility of characters and both have an element of body hacking,” said Chetcuti.

To Chetcuti, being a drag clown is an infinite experience as there is no such thing as an absolute with clowns. One can be everything and simultaneously nothing, which gives the artists the ability to tiptoe between the serious and profound as well as the kitschy and the outright absurd.

The work produced by Chetcuti for the Dragclown Affairs exhibition features a capsule collection of ceramic artworks made in collaboration with artists Matthew Mamo and Sofia Kuzmenko, the duo behind the ceramic’s studio THISS Clay. The concept for this capsule collection was centred on the character of Klonn, and sought to evoke imagery of clownery juxtaposed with saintly reliquaries. “Drag is always bigger in the sum of its parts and that had to be reflected in this collection,” said Chetcuti.

Drag is always bigger in the sum of its parts and that had to be reflected in this collection- Gabriel Chetcuti

This desire to produce a documented history of his character refers more broadly to the relationship that the artist maintains with memory and documentation. While consciously keeping in mind the history of practices and existences that have been historically undervalued and outrightly dismissed.

The exhibition also features work produced by Chetcuti in connection with his master’s degree at the University of Malta. Chetcuti is currently reading a masters of fine arts in digital arts, under the mentorship of Vince Briffa. Through his research he sought to create a dialogue on the transformation of decorative objects and architectural elements into wearable artforms. 

Baert, the curator of the exhibition, reiterated this point saying: “Some visitors sometimes refer to the Venetian carnival when seeing Gabriel’s works. Gabriel sometimes talks about it as dark surrealism, we can also see sorts of gargoyles, grotesque sculptures that come to life. Gabriel’s approach questions our relationship to spaces, to what surrounds us, to the environment and how we contribute to shape it through our existence and our movements.”

Gabriel sometimes talks about his works as dark surrealism. Photo: Kris Micallef

When asked why Chetcuti was selected, Baert said: “There are of course common codes in drag clown practices, which we can find in the make-up, in the costumes, the behaviours, the poses... But Gabriel Chetcuti’s approach very quickly caught my attention because of its aesthetic.” He also noted that it was because of Chetcuti’s openness to build bridges.

Participating in the exhibition, DragClown Affairs presented Chetcuti with the first opportunity to connect and collaborate with other international drag clowns.

Chetcuti noted that he had previously interacted with international drag artists at home but they were brief and one-off interactions. Participating in the exhibition on the other hand felt like a community building moment which was not only comforting but also affirming. 

“I felt I was in a league of excellence,” said Chetcuti.

Dragclown Affairs is on view until July 15 at the Natalie Seroussi gallery in Paris.