Department of Art Events

The University of Oregon Department of Art is pleased to present a lecture and exhibition by alumnus Reza Safavi (MFA ’06).  

The exhibition Binging on the Biome will be on view from February 16-26 in the LaVerne Krause Gallery. An exhibition reception will immediately following the lecture.

Binging on the Biome is informed by an interest in the edge zones of ecosystems, transitional regions where distinct environments meet and interact. These liminal spaces are defined by exchange, instability, and heightened activity, operating under conditions of continual negotiation rather than equilibrium. Through light-based works, scanned and printed ice forms, film, fabric, and kinetic systems, the works highlight these areas where environmental systems overlap and remain in flux. Referencing the increasing scarcity of ice, the exhibition considers how regions once defined by inaccessibility are becoming sites of strategic interest and control. The exhibition remains open-ended, resisting resolution while acknowledging the complexities of engagement with fragile systems.

Reza Safavi’s practice is shaped by a hybrid sense of identity. Raised in Canada after the Multiculturalism Act of 1988, he explores cultural juxtapositions through material and digital forms. Living and working in the U.S., he continues this inquiry through research and practice. Reza has been a member of several artists’ groups and, in addition to his solo work, he regularly participates in making of collaborative projects. His artwork has been exhibited and presented regionally nationally and internationally in diverse venues ranging from galleries and museums to public installations and performances. He is Professor of Art at Washington State University and holds an MFA from the University of Oregon (2006) and a BFA from the University of Victoria, in Victoria, BC, Canada. 

This lecture and exhibition are made possible by the Laverne Krause Lectures and Exhibitions endowment. 

Image caption: Komagataeibacterberg, fabricated from point cloud data from an Arctic iceberg using a custom biomaterial made from oceanic microbes and Kombucha, Archival Pigment Print

University of Oregon 2025-26 Visiting Artist Lecture Series Presented by the Department of Art and Center for Art Research

The lecture will be followed by an exhibition reception for Reza Safavi: "Binging on the Biome" in the LaVerne Krause Gallery.

Reza Safavi’s research examines how technology shapes experience. He uses sculpture, video, game engines, light, sound, drawing, performance, analog and digital devices as well as elements of the natural world to create interactive experiences that highlight the interfaces, both macro and micro, among communities, technology, consciousness and the environment. Receiving his MFA from the UO in 2006, Reza is thrilled to return to give a talk on his work and where he has been for the last 20 years.

Reza Safavi’s practice is shaped by a hybrid sense of identity. Raised in Canada after the Multiculturalism Act of 1988, he explores cultural juxtapositions through material and digital forms. Living and working in the U.S., he continues this inquiry through research and practice. Reza has been a member of several artists’ groups and, in addition to his solo work, he regularly participates in making of collaborative projects. His artwork has been exhibited and presented regionally nationally and internationally in diverse venues ranging from galleries and museums to public installations and performances. He is Professor of Art at Washington State University and holds an MFA from the University of Oregon (2006) and a BFA from the University of Victoria, in Victoria, BC, Canada.

This lecture and exhibition are made possible by the LaVerne Krause Lectures and Exhibitions endowment.   

The University of Oregon Department of Art is pleased to present a lecture and exhibition by Reza Safavi (MFA ’06).  

The exhibition Binging on the Biome will be on view from February 16-26 in the LaVerne Krause Gallery. An exhibition reception will immediately following the lecture.

Binging on the Biome is informed by an interest in the edge zones of ecosystems, transitional regions where distinct environments meet and interact. These liminal spaces are defined by exchange, instability, and heightened activity, operating under conditions of continual negotiation rather than equilibrium. Through light-based works, scanned and printed ice forms, film, fabric, and kinetic systems, the works highlight these areas where environmental systems overlap and remain in flux. Referencing the increasing scarcity of ice, the exhibition considers how regions once defined by inaccessibility are becoming sites of strategic interest and control. The exhibition remains open-ended, resisting resolution while acknowledging the complexities of engagement with fragile systems.

Reza Safavi’s practice is shaped by a hybrid sense of identity. Raised in Canada after the Multiculturalism Act of 1988, he explores cultural juxtapositions through material and digital forms. Living and working in the U.S., he continues this inquiry through research and practice. Reza has been a member of several artists’ groups and, in addition to his solo work, he regularly participates in making of collaborative projects. His artwork has been exhibited and presented regionally nationally and internationally in diverse venues ranging from galleries and museums to public installations and performances. He is Professor of Art at Washington State University and holds an MFA from the University of Oregon (2006) and a BFA from the University of Victoria, in Victoria, BC, Canada. 

This lecture and exhibition are made possible by the Laverne Krause Lectures and Exhibitions endowment. 

Image caption: Komagataeibacterberg, fabricated from point cloud data from an Arctic iceberg using a custom biomaterial made from oceanic microbes and Kombucha, Archival Pigment Print

University of Oregon 2025-26 Visiting Artist Lecture Series Presented by the Department of Art and Center for Art Research

“Weights & Measures” conveys multiple meanings. It refers to the burdens our bodies and psyches carry, the passage of time and musical tempos. At its most literal, it evokes systems of value and order. The talk will discuss Khoury’s last three years of work that that have focused on collectivity, intangibility, music, food, athleticism, and death.  Through the process of assemblage, casting, printmaking, forging, welding, and hand building forms, Khoury continues to explore what makes something, or someone, worth more or less than another? The athleticism of death, the aestheticism of the everyday, and the cultural imperatives that create the weights we bear. The talk will share the unique processes of casting at the Kohler Factory in Wisconsin two summers in a row, first in foundry and then in pottery.

Sahar Khoury is an artist based in Oakland, California.  Khoury makes sculptures that integrate abstraction, personal and political symbols, and an intuitive sensitivity to site. Found or rejected objects that are immediate, abundant, and recurring serve as a script for constructions made of metal, clay, cement, and papier-mâché. Trained as a cultural anthropologist and having never taken any fundamental art classes, Khoury continues to develop an idiosyncratic approach to merging diverse materials, with a primary commitment to spontaneity and interdependence. She received her BA in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz in 1996 and her MFA From UC Berkeley in 2013.