Michael Stevenson
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Born in New Zealand, 1964.
Michael Stevenson’s sculptures, paintings, films, and installations are storytelling in material form. Stevenson’s numerous bodies of work over the past four decades have tended to each focus on narratives that speak to particular sets of ideologies and worldviews. Stepping back and considering the whole of his practice, one may observe Stevenson’s consistent and persistent approach to contemporary art as a visual repository for the stories we believe and tell ourselves, and each other.
Michael Stevenson has exhibited extensively in Australasia, Europe, and North America since the 1980s. Solo exhibitions dedicated to surveying Stevenson’s work have been held at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin in 2021 and at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney in 2011. Stevenson represented New Zealand at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. His work is held by esteemed museum collections worldwide. Stevenson has lived and worked in Berlin, Germany since 2000. He lived and worked in Australia throughout the 1990s, before which he was based in New Zealand. He is professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Nürnberg, Germany.
Solo Exhibitions
2024
Fine Arts, Sydney, ‘Mind’s Eye’, Sydney, Australia
2023
Michael Lett 3 East Street, ‘Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: seating proposals for a Grantmaker’, Auckland, New Zealand
2022
Fine Arts, Sydney, ‘The Cheap Heat’, Sydney, Australia
2021
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, ‘Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief’, Berlin, Germany
2020-2021
Kunstinstituut Melly, ‘Michael Stevenson, a solo exhibition‘, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2020
Fine Arts, Sydney, ‘Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief’, Sydney, Australia
2019
Monash University Museum of Art MUMA, ‘Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183’, Melbourne, Australia
2018
Auckland Art Gallery, ‘Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183’, Auckland, New Zealand
2017
Michael Lett, ‘Inside the Keep Out Shed’, Auckland, New Zealand
2016
Carl Freedman Gallery, ‘Signs & Wonders’, London, United Kingdom
Midway Contemporary Art, ‘Signs & Wonders’, Minneapolis, United States
2015
Kunsthal Charlottenborg, ‘Signs & Wonders’, Copenhagen, Denmark
SculptureCenter, ‘Viewing Room: Michael Stevenson’, New York, United States
2014
Tate Modern, ‘The Chronicle of Interventions’, London, United Kingdom
2013
UTS Gallery, ‘Listening in the Ruins of the 20th Century’, Sydney, Australia
Michael Lett, ‘Proof of the Devil’, Auckland, New Zealand
2012
Portikus, ‘A Life of Crudity, Vulgarity, and Blindness’, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, ‘Nueva matemática’, Mexico City, Mexico
Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria
2011
Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Michael Stevenson’, Sydney, Australia
2009
Hamish McKay Gallery, ‘Snow Melts in the Upper Clutha’, Wellington, New Zealand
Darren Knight Gallery, ‘Introduction a la Teoria de la Probalidad’, Sydney, Australia
2008
Arnolfini, ‘Persepolis 2530’, Bristol, United Kingdom
Kröller Müller, ‘The Place To Be’, Otterlo, Netherlands
2007
Vilma Gold, ‘Answers to Some Questions About Bananas’, London, United Kingdom
Art Unlimited, Art Basel, ‘Persepolis 2530’, Basel, Switzerland
Kunstbank, (with Iris Kettner), Berlin
2006
Vilma Gold, ‘The Smiles Are Not Smiles’, London, United Kingdom
Neuer Aachen Kunstverein, ‘The Gift’, Aachen, Germany
2005
Museum Abteiberg, ‘Michael Stevenson Retrospective’, Monchengladbach, Germany (cat.)
Wattis Institute CCA, ‘Economics in Thirty Fascinating Minutes’, San Francisco, United States (cat.)
2004
KIAD, ‘Rakit', Canterbury, United Kingdom
Darren Knight Gallery, ‘Argonauts of the Timor Sea’, Sydney, Australia
Galerie Kamm, ‘Keim' (with Cornelia Schmidt-Bleek), Berlin, Germany
2003
50th Biennale di Venezia, New Zealand Pavilion, ‘This is the Trekka', Venice, Italy
Vilma Gold, ‘To Our German Friend’, London, United Kingdom
Artists studio, ‘An Evening without Immendorf’, Berlin, Germany
2002
Hyatt Hotel, ‘An Evening with Jorg Immendorf’, Auckland, New Zealand
2001
Malksten, ‘The Broccoli Maestro and The Strange Voyage of Bas Jan Ader’, Düsseldorf, Germany
2000
Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, ‘Daily Practice’, New York, United States
National Gallery of Australia, ‘Non-Objective Brass’, Canberra, Australia, RMIT Gallery, Court House Hotel and Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, ‘Songs of Life: The Melbourne International Biennale’
Govett-Brewster Gallery,‘Genealogy’, (with Steven Brower), New Plymouth, New Zealand
Galerie Kapinos, ‘Call Me Immendorf’, Berlin, Germany
Residency, Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
China Art Objects, ‘Slave Pianos’, Los Angeles, United States
Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, ‘Separated at Birth’, New York, United States
1999
Darren Knight Gallery, ‘Slave Pianos: The Music of the City’, Sydney, Australia
Lombard-Fried Fine Arts, ‘Emancipate the Dissonance’, New York, United States
1998
Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, ‘The Gift of Critical Insight’, New York, United States
Hamish Mckay Gallery, ‘Jesus Changed My Life in Eketahuna’, Wellington, New Zealand
1997
McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch; Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Artspace, ‘Alternative Ways of Seeing’, (website project), Auckland, New Zealand
City Art Gallery Wellington, Te Whare Toi, ‘Vehicles for artists who are no longer famous’, Wellington, New Zealand
1996
Darren Knight DKW, ‘Michael Stevenson’, Melbourne, Australia
Trevor Smith’s garage, ‘Art Watchdog’, Canberra, Australia
Australian Centre for Photography, ‘How NASA Mooned the Avant-Garde', Sydney, Australia
1995
Hamish McKay Gallery, ‘First Warning’, Wellington, New Zealand
Darren Knight DKW, ‘Mike Stevenson’, Melbourne, Australia
Teststrip, ‘Video ART’, Auckland, New Zealand
1994
Hamish McKay Gallery, ‘Decline of Western Civilisation Part 3 – The Minimalist Years’, Wellington, New Zealand
Gregory Flint Gallery, ‘The Easyrider', Auckland, New Zealand
Darren Knight DKW, ‘Some Latter-Day Art’, Melbourne, Australia
1993
Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth; Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North; Darren Knight, Sydney, ‘Badlands’
Darren Knight DKW, Melbourne, Australia
1992
Gregory Flint Gallery, Auckland
1991
Gregory Flint Gallery, ‘The Farewell and Welcome Home Club’, Auckland, New Zealand
Manawatu Art Gallery, ‘The Farewell and Welcome Home Club’, Palmerston North, New Zealand
1990
Gregory Flint Gallery, ‘On Angels Wings’, Auckland, New Zealand
Ray Hughes Gallery, ‘Rotary Greetings from Bulls’, Sydney, Australia
Jonathan Jensen Gallery, ‘Situation and Style’, curated by William McAloon, Christchurch, New Zealand
1989
Southern Cross Gallery, ‘One Small Town’, Wellington, New Zealand
1988
Manawatu Art Gallery, ‘Paintings’, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Southern Cross Gallery, ‘Paintings’, Wellington, New Zealand
Group Exhibitions
2023
Museum of Modern Art | MoMA, ‘Chosen Memories: Contemporary Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de
Cisneros Gift and Beyond’, New York, United States
2021
Muzeum Sztuki, ‘The Earth is Flat Again‘, Łódź, Poland
2019
Michael Lett, ‘Modern Nature‘, Auckland, New Zealand
2018
21st Biennale of Sydney, Carriageworks, ‘Superposition: Equilibrium & Engagement’, Sydney, Australia
City Gallery Wellington, ‘This is New Zealand’, Wellington, New Zealand
2017
Regen Projects, ‘Primordial Saber Tararear Proverbiales Sílabas Toni cantes Para Sublevar Tecnocracias Pero Seguir Tenazmente Produciendo Sociedades Tántricas – Pedro Salazar Torres (Partido Socialista Trabajador)’, Los Angeles, United States
2015
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Project 35: The Last Act’, Moscow, Russia
Michael Lett, Group Show, Auckland, New Zealand
Dojima River Biennale, Dojima River Forum, ‘Take Me To The River’, Osaka, Japan
2014
8th Berlin Biennale, Dahlem Museum, Berlin, Germany
Liverpool Biennial 2014, ‘Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare’, Liverpool, United Kingdom
2011
ZKM, ‘The Global Contemporary Art Worlds After 1989’, Karlsruhe, Germany
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, ‘Un’Espressione Geografica', Torino, Italy
CAPC, ‘Dystopia; After 4000 Years Of Sci-Fi’, Bordeaux, France
2010
Objectif Exhibitions, ‘A Question of How Thing Behave’, Antwerp, Belgium
Etablissement d’en face, ‘Introduction a la Teoria de la Probalidad’, Brussels, Belgium
Camden Arts Centre, ‘Never The Same River (Possible Futures, Probable Pasts)’, London, United Kingdom 6th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany
Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, ‘Morality: Act XI: Remember Humanity’, Rotterdam, Netherlands
‘There is No Alternative’, Konst Hall C and Romanian Cultural Institute’, Stockholm, Sweden
CAPC Musee d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, ‘Ou la Vie Saisie par l’Art’, Bordeaux, France
4th Auckland Triennial, ‘Last Ride in a Hot Air Balloon’, Auckland, New Zealand
Public Art Project, curated by Pablo Fanego, ‘La Ciudad Interpretada/The City Interpreted’, Santiago de Compestella, Spain
Kaleidoscope Project Space, ‘The Mirage of History’, curated by Yann Chateigne Tytelman (Berlin), Milan, Italy
2009
MACBA, ‘The Malady of Writing’, Barcelona, Spain
2nd Athens Biennial, ‘Heaven’, Athens, Greece
Meyer Rieger Karlsruhe, ‘Michael Stevenson and Edith Dekyunt', Berlin, Germany
Simon Preston Gallery, ‘A Despot in Flora’s Garden’, New York, United States
2008
8th Panama Art Biennial, ‘The Sweet Burnt Smell of History’ curated by Mats Stjernstedt, Panama City, United States
Göteborgs Konsthall, Sweden
ZKM, ‘Familiar Terrain’ curated by Gregor Jansen and Thomas Thiel, Karlsruhe, Germany
The Power Plant, ‘Not Quite How I Remember It’, curated by Helena Rickett, Toronto, Canada
2007
Tate Modern, ‘The Irresistible Force’, London, United Kingdom
2006
Queensland Art Gallery, Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, Australia
2005
Rooseum Centre for Contemporary Art, ‘Saltuna', Malmö, Sweden
Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, CCA, ‘Monuments for the USA’, San Francisco; White Columns, New York, United States
1997
‘Pre Millennial (with Ronnie van Hout), Australian tour venues: Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia,
Adelaide; Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney. New Zealand tour venues:
City Art Gallery Wellington, Te Whare Toi; Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
1993
City Gallery Wellington, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Wellington, New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Auckland, New Zealand
Centre Civic Casa Elizalde, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Barcelona, Spain
Gregory Flint Gallery, ‘New Paintings’, Auckland, New Zealand
Centro Cultural de Caja Espana, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Zamora, Spain
Centro Cultural de Conde Duque, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Madrid, Spain
1992
Stelling Gallery, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Leiden, Netherlands
Pubellon de las Arles, Expo, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Seville, Spain
1991
Sarjeant Gallery, ‘Distance Looks Our Way’, Waganui, New Zealand
1989
Sue Crockford Gallery, ‘The Cross’, curated by John Reynolds, Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery, ‘After McCahon’, curated by Tina Barton, Auckland, New Zealand
Touring: ‘Constructed Intimacies’, Auckland Art Gallery, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, National Gallery, Wellington, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand