At the opening of Michael Stevenson's exhibition at Sydney’s MCA on Tuesday night there was a large group of young suited men in front of one of the works deep in animated conversation. Necks were craning, fingers pointing and comments passing back and forth from one MCA young businessman patron to another. It turned out they were discussing the finer points of the Michael Stevenson print Gold vs Oil (2009) which showed how the prices and the relationships of these two key commodities fluctuated over time.
Also on show was a 1987 drawing of a snake painted in a dynamic thick blue line. When Stevenson first showed it to his dealer of the time Gregory Flint, Flint told him how much he liked the work and remarked, "Save it for your retrospective." Still in the possession of the artist, he did.
Image: display case in Michael Stevenson at the MCA with his work One bad snake far right
