Portrait exhibition by Serbian artist Stevanović continues in Nicosia — Cyprus Mail
In Nicosia, Cyprus, the solo exhibition Closely Observed by Serbian artist Milenko Stevanović will run until October 15. Toto Gallery presents portraits created over the five years since the artist settled in Cyprus, Cyprus Mail reports.
The exhibition includes paintings, watercolours, charcoal drawings and stone lithographs. The subjects are people Stevanović met on the island, as well as his mother, dog and the artist himself. The exhibition is curated by Constantinos Kyprianou and presented by Alternative Brains Rule.
People instead of landscapes
Stevanović said that Cyprus influenced his work, but he did not seek to create a series tied to a specific location. The artist focused on depicting a person or object against a simple coloured background, removing unnecessary details from the composition.
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The impetus for the series came from a drawing of a sculpture at the Cyprus Museum. According to the artist, he was interested in how the sculptor conveyed form and simplified mass. Later, the artist began exploring light in images. Stevanović often spends several hours on the streets of Nicosia, in Agioi Omologites and Old Nicosia, where he draws, studies details and experiments from life.
Long work with models
Some of the portraits in the exhibition are large, almost life-size. Stevanović noted that creating such canvases requires lengthy sittings: for the painting featuring two people on a sofa, Apostolos posed for 48.5 hours and Christina for 54 hours. Completing one work can take several months or even a year.
On September 24 at 19:00, the artist will hold a public talk with theatre actor Diomedes Koufteros. On October 2 at 19:00, one of the exhibition's models will lead a gallery tour together with Stevanović.
