Michael Zavros: The Favourite

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Sat 24 Jun 2023 - Mon 02 Oct 2023

I have followed Michael Zavros's career with interest over a number of years wondering what will next cross his palette and thought process in his artwork. QAGOMA is just preparing for his first solo exhibition and as a precursor to this, we had the wonderful opportunity to join Michael in a conversation he had at the gallery with Peter McKay.

It was a sneak peek into artworks and themes which will be included in the upcoming exhibition ''. Surveying twenty years of the artist's career, the exhibition will profile significant thematic explorations including fashion magazines, European palaces, luxury cars, his children, Narcissus and still-life, spanning across painting, sculpture, photography and video. One of the artworks on permanent display in QAG is Bad Dad - which some of you might be familiar with.



Peter introduced him and Michael seemed almost nervous as he listened to his host telling us all about his wonderful achievements. He is still only in his forties and I suspect has a lot more to offer.

Once he started the conversation however he had us all spellbound as he related his roots at the Gold Coast with two school teacher parents and four sisters, trying to provide the best education for them and encourage their love of horses. He loved horses and won many awards but at a critical juncture, it was a question of choosing between going to art college or rising to the next level in competitive horse shows. Thankfully for all of us, he chose art.

Horses have featured in his artwork - as have fashion items and paintings of his children. He explained what led to each particular phase in this art journey, sometimes aspirational, other times a dig at fashion and glamour, often a reflection of self and what it meant to him.

A 2016 exhibition at the Philip Bacon Galleries showed us some of his amazing realist and surreal efforts. When a few of these were displayed in the course of the conversation there was an audible sound of appreciation from the audience. They are splendid in their technical perfection and rendering of images.

Sometimes when we look at art, we don't always get it. Michael was able to clearly and eloquently explain how he started his art career and what triggers and events led him to explore the many avenues he has taken. He continues this intellectual curiosity which brings many new art themes and artworks, both in his capacity as an artist and also more recently as an art director and it was clear that there would be some wonderful surprises awaiting all of us when the exhibition opens.

I personally can't wait to see more of his works and also to see the many themes which I am sure QAGOMA will do an excellent job at displaying and explaining.

The exhibition opens on the 24th of June and goes on until the 2nd of October 2023.




His intellect and explanations left us all wanting more of his art and that is all ahead of us in what is his first solo exhibition at QAGOMA.



So this is a heads up to that event - one not to be missed. Complete with Temples to his Greek heritage and Greek coffee on offer on the opening weekend not to mention a game of backgammon!

#art
#exhibitions
#galleries
#south_bank
#june
#july
#august
#september
!date 24/06/2023 -- 02/10/2023
%wnbrisbane