What connects Mexico City and Belgrade is revealed by a new exhibition at Silosi, from July 18 to 27.
“Presence in Absence” were the words with which artist Nadežda Stanković described the exhibition of her works created between Belgrade and Mexico City. Coming from the world of architecture, Nadežda presented works strongly rooted in materiality, unique textures, and forms we encounter every day on the streets of big cities like these two where the works were created. The exhibition was set up in the gallery at Belgrade’s Silosi, where it could be visited every day from 4 PM to 10 PM, in the period from July 18 to 27.
Born in Serbia, and at the time residing in Mexico City, Nadežda Stanković bore witness through multilayered works to transience, presence, and the traces time leaves behind. After completing her master’s studies in architecture, she worked in Moscow, Amsterdam, Istanbul, and Mexico City, before leaving architectural practice and dedicating herself fully to art.
Her works were not decorative—they testified. Walls that remember. Surfaces that breathe through cracks, bareness, and material weight. In the painting process she used cement, ropes, paper, and a scalpel—materials that carry a sense of transience and inner truth. The series Absence Presence, Vestiges of Time, and Ashes of Presence dealt with what remains after a moment has passed. In the Silosi space, the paintings blended with the walls, offering no explanations, but reminding us of transience and inviting visitors to be fully present—if only for a moment.
