Art

The artist behind the Lawrence Medal

Lin Cook was commissioned to design the first Lawrence Medal — a prestigious honor now awarded annually to a distinguished graduate — in 1999. She has produced every medal that has been presented since then.

“Metal is the medium in which I can express myself artistically,” says Cook, BFA metalsmithing and jewelry ’80, who based the design of the medal on a rosette motif from the columns at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA, a building designed by Ellis F. Lawrence.) “With metal you can define an edge, an important element of my design language.

Lin offers new summer courses in contemporary art, Asian visual culture

Assistant Professor Jenny Lin shares her skills, research, and expertise with two departments in UO’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts, having been hired fall 2012 for a joint appointment in the departments of Art and the History of Art and Architecture. She is the first such faculty hire.

Art News enthusiastic about Reaves’ show at Russo gallery

The May 2013 Art News gives a rave review to art instructor Jan Reaves’ recent show at the Laura Russo Gallery in Portland. “Reaves excels in balancing free, energetic gestures with harmonious compositions. In all of her work, there is a satisfying interplay between form and negative space, dynamism and serenity,” Art News reviewer Richard Speer writes.

Click the image below to read the full review.

Artist’s work fuses art, social science

He tweets in French, English, and Farsi. He’ll set up an empty chair in front of his own chair on a busy sidewalk just to see who stops by, documenting the results in photographs. His portfolio includes photographs of shopkeepers holding portraits of dead relatives; photo assemblages “created to raise suspicion”’; photographs gathered from dozens of artists and sold to benefit children with cancer, children in poverty, children in need of human rights protection.

Storytelling, voice key to comics class

Comics aren’t always funny. Think “Doonesbury,” which makes pointed political digs. Or Joe Sacco’s graphic novels about Arab-Palestinian conflicts. And the mid-20th century’s “Pogo,” by Walt Kelly, which engaged in social and political satire. But plenty of comics definitely elicit at least a chuckle if not a ROFL response. What the best have in common is lushly rendered artwork, complex characters, and strong storylines that compel readers to keep coming back.

Salter creates huge robots for exhibit in Colorado gallery

A gigantic Styrofoam robot has commandeered a Colorado art gallery through March, thanks to Oregon artist and educator Michael Salter. An associate professor of art/new media at UO, Salter opened the solo show, “styrobot: nothing comes from nothing,” at the Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on January 24. The show runs through March 22.