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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2025)
VISUAL ARTS Photo by Sarah Oliver/Domek A PLACE FOR PEOPLE Domek restaurant in downtown Eugene hangs work from internationally known Serbian-American artist Vesna Pavlović BY WILL KENNEDY O ne day, not long ago, Vesna Pavlović, a photographer and Vanderbilt University asso- ciate professor of art, got a notifi cation that someone she didn’t know from Eugene, Oregon, had followed her on Instagram. On her feed, Pavlović shares examples of her work, which has been shown at prestigious institutions all around the world, including a solo show at the Phil- lips Collection in Washington, D.C., group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Arts Center in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in the public collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, also in Washing- ton. Pavlović’s photograph Krajina Hotel, Negotin is in the collection at the National Gallery of Art. Now, in part from that social media encounter, two of Pavlović’s photographs called Inside the Federal Executive Council Building, Belgrade, Serbia, 2003-2005, hang at Domek, the recently opened Eastern European cuisine restaurant in down- Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway town Eugene. On the other end of that Instagram follow was Domek’s co-owner, Sarah Oliver, who was introduced to Pavlović’s work through Sarah Finlay, who lives in Eugene but once owned Fusebox, an art gallery in Washington, D.C. Finlay, friends with Oliver, linked to Pavlović through the art world, brokered the Domek deal, and has opened RecRoom, a small, high-end art gallery in her own home in south Eugene. Pavlović was born in Serbia in south- eastern Europe, a cultural and geographic connection to the food Oliver and her husband, and Domek co-owner, Chef Andrew Hroza’s menu explores. The two pieces on permanent display at Domek are from Pavlović’s Kolekcija collection, photographed at the Palace of Federation, also known as the Palace of Serbia in New Belgrade, putting Pavlović’s formalist lens on architecture with her eye for spaces humans inhabit. Built in the 1950s, the Palace of Federa- tion, a government building, stands today as a monument to Serbia’s socialist past, but also, divorced from politics, a time their work in Eugene. Finlay and Pavlović capsule for mid-century modern design. In are in talks to host a show at RecRoom. Pavlović’s work, the scenes are absent of RecRoom’s inaugural show, The Beau- people, but with the haunting sense they tiful Room is Empty, runs through August just left, a mood Pavlović’s photographs 31. Presented alongside guest curator often convey. Steven Stewart, it’s a sister show to a When introduced to Pavlović’s work Freight+Volume gallery installation in New through Finlay, Oliver knew right away York, with the same artists presented in that the clean lines, geometric abstraction, Eugene at a smaller scale. It focuses on and a restrained but warm color palette abstract expressionism and features work would supplement the restaurant’s mini- from the Pacifi c Northwest, Los Angeles, malist interior. New York and North Carolina. Most importantly, though, the Palace of Among them is Terry Haggerty, a Univer- Federation, as photographed by Pavlović, sity of Oregon art instructor who shows was a “place for the people, which is also all over the world and works from a studio how we look at Domek,” Oliver says. in Eugene. “I want people to know that The pieces, Oliver tells Eugene Weekly, these artists are here in the community,” “speak to a certain time, and a certain Finlay says. place. And that’s what we want to do,” she With RecRoom, and in brokering art says, with Domek’s menu and aesthetic. like Pavlović, Finlay says she wants to Oliver continues, “The thing about bring higher-end art to Eugene and put Vesna’s pieces, and the thing that connects artists, whether based here or elsewhere, in them to this restaurant, is that one of our dialogue with the community. “Set expec- main missions was, if you walk into Domek, tations a little higher,” she says. “You can you’re instantly taken from out there, and see a world-class artist here. You can have you’re here. Vesna’s pieces also do that.” access to that.” Pavlović, in a phone call from Nash- Referring to the Pavlović photos at ville, where Vanderbilt is located, Domek, she says it was Pavlović’s says that her larger Kole- interest in what she calls kcija collection, from “non-places” or liminal which the pieces were space — in this case, chosen, compares beautifully designed and contrasts the but empty govern- Palace of Federa- ment offi ces — that tion, which is also made her think it a landmark of was the perfect fi t. socialism, with the F i n l a y s a y s, Chase One Plaza in “I love the juxta- Manhattan, built by position of these VESNA PAVLOVIĆ, ARTIST. David Rockefeller, a fascinating places, Photo by Susan Urmy titan of American-style but devoid of people,” capitalism. contrasted, she says, In choosing those two “with the scene in the restau- photographs, Pavlović says Domek rant, which is warm, with people “wanted to engage with that narrative.” talking and interacting.” Art can be a reminder of ways to “tran- Domek is at 454 Willamette Street. Hours are 5 pm to 11 pm Wednesday through Saturday. Make scend struggle,” she says. “And certainly reservations at DomekEugene.com, or call 458-544- we are in times of struggle.” 1312. RecRoom Gallery is at 4415 Hilyard Street. Through facilitating artists finding Hours are noon to 4 pm Sunday or by appointment. Go to RecRoomEugene.com or email Sarah@ space in Eugene, such as Pavlović, and RecRoomEugene.com for more information. For in her RecRoom, gallerist Finlay hopes to more information about Vesna Pavlović, go to provide more opportunities for mid-career Vesna-Pavlovic.com or search Vesna Pavlović on social media. and emerging artists like Pavlović to show is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. (www.concordtheatricals.com) Scan for tickets! support.eugeneweekly.com August 21, 2025 13