The exhibition ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’ featured the ambitious new sculpture Drowned Mercedes 2023 (illustrated), for which Michael Zavros has filled the cabin of a classic 1990s Mercedes-Benz SL convertible with water. Michael Zavros ‘Drowned Mercedes’ 2023 The most immediate interpretation might be that the car has been ruined through neglect, vandalism or an unusual brand of self-destruction, invoking the idea that you cannot truly appreciate something until it is lost. Yet this creative act could equally be read as just this: a creative act. With his characteristic calculated humour and sense of absurdity, Zavros transforms the coveted vehicle into a reflection pool. Reflections of the artist such as Zavros’s Narcissus-themed self-portraits V12/Narcissus 2009 (illustrated) and Bad dad 2013 (illustrated) are arguably his most iconic works. Their impeccable, seductive surfaces reward close attention, while intelligently updating the ancient Greek myth about the love of self and love of others. Zavros, however, is largely ambivalent about moral interpretations of his work. From this perspective, the images are more about acknowledging our persistent appetites than critiquing consumerism and excess. Michael Zavros ‘V12/Narcissus’ 2009 Michael Zavros ‘Bad Dad’ 2013 Watch | Michael Zavros discusses his practice The 208-page exhibition publication Michael Zavros: The Favourite is available at QAGOMA Stores or online. ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite‘ in 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery) and 1.2 was at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane from 24 June to 2 October 2023. This exhibition offered opportunities for dialogue with ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ presented in the adjacent gallery 1.2 and 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery). Featured image: Michael Zavros with Drowned Mercedes 2023 at ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane / © Michael Zavros / Photograph: David Kelly

Michael Zavros was an Australian national showjumper as a teenager, so thoroughbreads are in his blood. During the Royal Queensland Show — which locals have affectionately shortened the name to ‘Ekka’ — we look at a range of works that delve into the artist’s interest in horses, including centaurs and the mystique of the cowboy. Royal Queensland Show Horses have been competing at Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) since the very first show in 1876. Today, more than 15 breeds of horses from the majestic clydesdales, the thoroughbred and standardbred, to small shetland ponies will be showcased this year. A highlight every year of the horse competitions is the breathtaking showjumping. If you’re going to the Ekka and are seduced by the charm of the horse, don’t miss the works on display in ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’. A good horse On display at GOMA is a selection of Zavros’s dramatic equestrian paintings, drawings and sculptures (illustrated), which show the power and vulnerability of thoroughbreds. ‘When I was younger, I was heavily involved in equestrian sports . . . Horses have emerged as highly personal subject matter for me, emblematic of a deep personal melancholy . . . I think of them as monumental motifs for sadness.’ Michael Zavros Trophy 2010 The waiting one 2006 Falling August 2006 ‘The power and energy of this jumping horse has been literally turned on its head . . . In equestrian sports the horse’s bravery or willingness is emphasised . . . a good horse will often go against its natural instincts and quite literally leap into the unknown, often to its peril.’ Michael Zavros The Centaur Zavros’s striking monochromatic paintings Burberry Prorsum/Bay 2006 and Tom Ford/Black 2011 (illustrated) quite literally combine the artist’s interests in fashion and saddle horses. The images were constructed by collaging source material to create postures that showed a certain strength or tension. The collages were then painted at scale. A meaningful parallel exists between the distinct sources in their pronounced adherence to aesthetic standards and codes. Notably, these works are also among the first to evoke ancient Greek mythology through the part human part horse creature known as a centaur. Burberry Prorsum/Bay 2006 Tom Ford/Black 2011 Palomino 2021 The cowboy The ‘Prince/Zavros’ series 2012–13 includes a re-creation of the iconic Marlboro Man advertisements (illustrated) famously rephotographed by American artist Richard Prince in the late 1980s. Zavros reproduced by hand Prince’s own photographic appropriations of Marlboro advertisements. ‘The Marlboro images articulate a different kind of utopia, a different kind of exotic. Especially to an Australian or anyone in an urban context. Despite my childhood obsession with Australian mythology — The Man from Snowy River, mustering on school holidays in my R.M. Williams and my Drizabone, registering my horses with The Australian Stock Horse Society, attending the meetings and events — what I really wanted to be was a cowboy, not a stockman. I think it’s a typical Australian story, one where a figure borne of another culture could be so deeply embedded in our national character and psyche.’ Michael Zavros Prince/Zavros 5 2012 Prince/Zavros 6 2012 Prince/Zavros 9 2012 The 208-page exhibition publication Michael Zavros: The Favourite is available at QAGOMA Stores or online. ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite‘ in 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery) and 1.2 at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane from 24 June to 2 October 2023 surveys 25 years of painting, sculpture, photography and video by leading contemporary Queensland artist Michael Zavros. This exhibition offered opportunities for dialogue with ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ presented in the adjacent gallery 1.2 and 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery).