Serbian painter opens Nicosia show built from his first years in Cyprus

Serbian artist Milenko Stevanović opens his first solo exhibition in Cyprus this week. Closely Observed runs from 17 September to 15 October at In Toto Gallery in Nicosia.

Seven works hang in the show, all made between 2021 and 2026: four paintings, two fine art prints, one drawing. Together they trace Stevanović's early period living on the island, built around what the gallery describes as reciprocal portraiture, works in which sitter and observer study each other in turn.

A self-portrait closes the sequence. The artist's own answer to all that looking.

Curation is by Constantinos Kyprianou, and the exhibition is presented by ABR, Alternative Brains Rule.

The opening reception falls on Thursday, 17 September, at 7pm. Two further events sit inside the run. On 24 September at 7pm, Stevanović joins Diomedes Koufteros for an artist talk, a conversation pitched at anyone who wants to hear how these portraits came about rather than simply look at them. Michael Pavlides then leads a guided tour of the seven works on 2 October, also at 7pm. Three chances, in other words, to see the room with someone talking you through it.

In Toto Gallery keeps regular hours across select weekdays and Saturdays, with an additional opening during Sunday's Laou event.

Five years separate the earliest and the latest pieces on view. That span lets visitors read Stevanović's changing eye on one subject, Cyprus, from the vantage of someone still new to it.