Michael Zavros: Beyond beauty?

Michael Zavros's most recent series of photographs with Sean O'Pry - who is currently the most successful male model on measure of annual earnings - is probably the artist's most radical gesture to date alongside his recent performance for Melbourne Art Fair 2014 entitled Forty. Ostensibly a party in honour of the artist's fortieth birthday, Forty was, more broadly, a luxurious and decadent unveiling of Zavros's new still-life paintings styled for the occasion. It came complete with the product placement of a new Rolls Royce, the endorsement of the Stenmark twins - who are Australia's answer to Sean O'Pry in stereo - and an endless supply of personalised gold (chocolate) coins. Self-reflexive in the extreme, Forty was a spectacular about spectacle - a performance about commodifying commodities.