News

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.

Ruggeri shares sustainability expertise at Morocco consortium and in book about ‘new towns’

Deni Ruggeri, UO assistant professor of landscape architecture, has been invited to speak at the final conference “New Medina: from Pilot Towns to Sustainable Cities” in Morocco from June 9-13. The consortium is the culmination of a multiyear project that assembles experts and stakeholders to share planning strategies for the creation of sustainable “new towns” in Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt.

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.