Milenko Stevanović explores portraiture in Nicosia exhibition

Nicosia, Cyprus. Serbian artist Milenko Stevanović is presenting Closely Observed, a solo exhibition of portraits at Toto Gallery in Ayioi Omoloyites. Presented by Alternative Brains Rule (ABR), the exhibition runs until October 15.

Portraits and observations

Stevanović’s second solo exhibition in Nicosia includes stone lithographs, watercolours, paintings and charcoal drawings. The works portray people he has met since moving to Cyprus, as well as his mother and his dog.

The selection traces his first years on the island and the development of his interest in place, people and artistic practice.

“The place influenced me obviously,” he said, “but I did not want to make it about a specific place, which is strange to say because I do depend so much on places or the people that I paint. I wanted to explore some visual ideas and see what would happen if I was left with just a person or an object. What would that show about the way I paint?”

From the streets to the studio

Stevanović often walks through Nicosia, including Ayioi Omoloyites and the old city, carrying a sketchpad and drawing tools to study and experiment. A drawing of a sculpture at the Cyprus Museum began the process behind the series, which developed between 2021 and 2026.

“It’s a study of a museum sculpture, and I really like how the sculptor understood form and simplified the mass. I felt something towards it,” he said.

“I began to notice how light travelled through the picture. That’s when I began to wonder what would happen if I took away all the noise. What if I was left just with the person and a simple coloured background?”

Bringing Cyprus indoors

Stevanović said he deliberately moved away from a more direct response to the Cypriot landscape.

“I was consciously pushing to do something a bit different and not react to the Cypriot landscape in a way that maybe a version of me 10 years ago would have reacted, which would have been to paint the scenery, to populate it with the people, to paint the coffee shops,” he said.

“This time, I felt like I needed to turn a little bit more towards working in the studio because I had some curiosities there. So, it turned into bringing Cyprus and the people indoors.”