Texts | Publications | NewsApril 22, 2025
Nuit Blanche, A Night-Time Arts Festival …
Regina 2025
Nuit Blanche Regina transforms a neighborhood into an interactive outdoor art experience featuring both emerging and established artists.
Nuit Blanche, A Night-Time Arts Festival …
Regina 2025
Nuit Blanche Regina transforms a neighborhood into an interactive outdoor art experience featuring both emerging and established artists.
U of R Grad Student Commissioned to Create Sustainable Artwork
April 22 is Earth Day—a global call to action, urging us to advocate for change and work together toward a more sustainable future. At the University of Regina, our commitment to sustainability is a year-round priority. One recent initiative brings that mission to life through art.
Resilience During the Flood, a new painting by Visual Arts MFA student Mahdi Mahdian, is now on display in the Riddell Centre. Commissioned through the Sustainability and Community Engagement Fund (SCEF), with support from the President’s Art Collection and Facilities Management, the piece amplifies the urgency of climate action—reminding us of what’s at stake and what we still have the power to protect.
″Mahdi layers, scrapes, blends, and strokes paint until humanity emerges from the dark. — David Garneau, painter, curator, and U of R Visual Arts professor ″
Creating for a Purpose
While some artists chase greatness, Mahdian is in pursuit of purpose. He strives to be more than what he calls “a good draftsman”—someone with only technical skill—and instead seeks to explore the deeper, conceptual aspects of art: work that impacts audiences beyond the canvas.
Drawn to the SCEF’s call for sustainability-focused projects, Mahdian saw an opportunity to create something meaningful while pushing himself artistically. Commissioned work, he says, presents a unique challenge: balancing a personal vision with someone else’s goals.
“I’m not used to being told what to do,” Mahdian jokes. “But I want to be flexible. It is my job as an artist.”
The SCEF requested a painting that would address climate issues specific to the prairie provinces, such as floods and fires. For Mahdian, this meant moving away from the figurative work he is familiar with and embracing a more direct, message-driven approach. Over six months, he developed the piece: revising sketches, meeting with the SCEF committee, and incorporating sustainable materials throughout the process.
Resilience During the Flood by Mahdi Mahdian, commissioned through the Sustainability and Community Engagement Fund (SCEF), with support from the President’s Art Collection and Facilities Management. Photo Credit: University Communications and Marketing.
Road to the U of R
Originally from eastern Iran, Mahdian earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting before moving to Ukraine to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in classical painting and drawing. When war broke out, he was forced to flee Ukraine—leaving behind the life he had spent nearly a decade building.
Faced with an uncertain future, Mahdian made the difficult decision to start over in Canada, drawn to the University of Regina by the strength of its Visual Arts faculty.
As a graduate student, Mahdian says he deeply values the opportunity to work with his supervisor, Visual Arts Professor David Garneau. He credits Garneau’s mentorship with shaping his growth as a contemporary painter. “I’m learning that skill alone isn’t enough. He’s helping me find my sense of self as an artist,” says Mahdian.
To discover his sense of self, Mahdian explains, an artist must look inward—exploring identity, childhood, and even personal trauma. The process is demanding, both mentally and physically. He often spends up to 10 hours a day painting, knowing that most of his work will ultimately be discarded. And yet, he is not discouraged. “Sometimes it is about the practice, not about the result,” he says.
That dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed by his mentor. “Mahdi layers, scrapes, blends, and strokes paint until humanity emerges from the dark,” says Garneau, recognizing Mahdian’s ability to evoke emotion through his work.
What’s Next?
Mahdian’s MFA graduating exhibition, Self as Archive: Fragments in a Persian Mirror, opens later this month at the Fifth Parallel Gallery in the Riddell Centre. The exhibition runs from April 25 to May 8 and is free to attend. The gallery is open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Exhibition poster for Self as Archive: Fragments in a Persian Mirror. Photo Credit: Mahdi Mahdian.
Fresh Paint and New Construction – 19th Edition
From July 15 to August 26, 2023
Opening: Saturday, July 15, 2023, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
https://artmur.com/expositions/2023-expositions/peinture-fraiche-et-nouvelle-construction-2023/
Participating universities: Alberta University of the Arts, Calgary (AB), University of Regina (SK), University of Manitoba (MB), York University, Toronto (ON), OCAD University, Toronto (ON), University of Ottawa (ON), Concordia University, Montreal (QC), Université du Québec à Montréal (QC), Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke (QC), Université Laval (QC), NSCAD University, Halifax (NE), Memorial University, Grenfell Campus (NL).
Text by Béatrice Larochelle
The group exhibition Fresh Painting and New Construction is an annual event not to be missed. As every July at the Art Mûr gallery, several Canadian universities open the doors of their visual arts studios to us. They offer us a first-hand look at the fascinating sculpture and painting work of their current cohorts. This is an exceptional opportunity to discover the most emerging practices on the Canadian art scene and the next generation of professional artists. These new artistic practices reinvent and challenge the boundaries of the media we already know, but above all, they respond to one another. It is particularly interesting to note the themes and visual vocabularies that transcend the geographical boundaries of these universities.
Introduction to Figure Painting
Workshop with Mahdi Mahdian | Spring 2023
This intensive two-day workshop introduces participants to contemporary approaches to figure painting, balancing observational skill with expressive and conceptual exploration. Drawing from his background in figurative painting and the Russian school academy, Mahdi Mahdian guides participants through the fundamentals of working with the human figure while encouraging individual interpretation and painterly risk-taking.
The workshop focuses on structure, proportion, and gesture, alongside the use of colour, surface, and mark-making to convey emotion, tension, and narrative. Participants explore how the figure can move beyond academic representation to become a site of psychological, social, and symbolic meaning. Demonstrations, group discussions, and one-on-one feedback support a dynamic learning environment suited to artists at various stages of practice.
Rather than emphasizing a single stylistic outcome, the workshop invites painters to develop confidence in their process, respond intuitively to the figure, and experiment with contemporary strategies in figurative painting.
Echoes of Self | Group Exhibition | Sep 2024
Curated by: Mahdi Mahdian
https://fifthparallelgallery.com/previous-exhibitions/echoes-of-self
Self-portraiture has long been a fundamental exercise in art education, serving as both a technical challenge and a deep introspective journey for students. This exhibition explores the intricate process of self-representation, where each artist confronts not only the technical demands of capturing their likeness but also the sensory, psychological, and emotional challenges inherent in depicting their own identity. Beyond brushstrokes, color palettes, and compositional choices, the act of creating a self-portrait becomes a vulnerable dialogue between the artist and the self.
While the definition of a “self-portrait” in visual arts might seem straightforward, the way each of us perceives “self ” is highly subjective, often extending far beyond traditional frameworks. In this exhibition, the participating artists present diverse interpretations of their identities—each piece reflecting a unique perspective on the self that may challenge, expand, or even reject conventional notions of self-portraiture.
The artists featured in this exhibition are primarily in the final years of their undergraduate studies. The selected works were created in the classes of Professor David Garneau and Professor Holly Fay, where students engaged in intensive studies on self-portraiture. Under their direct guidance and mentorship, the students developed both their technical skills and conceptual understandings. The pieces on display are a testament to the profound impact of these instructors’ teachings and the diverse ways in which each student artist has interpreted and portrayed their sense of self.
As a curator, I am also currently working on a project that delves into the realm of self-portraits, and I find a deep resonance with the themes explored in this exhibition. I invite viewers to engage with these visual narratives that transcend mere representation, offering insights into how these young artists see, feel, and interpret themselves within—and beyond—their own mirrors.
Glimpse
Group Show | February 20 – March 3, 2023
https://fifthparallelgallery.com/previous-exhibitions/glimpse
Glimpse is an invitation to peek inside the studios of current MFA candidates in visual arts and interdisciplinary studies. The works exhibited are works in progress and continually evolving. MFA candidates are not only at different stages within their program, but also focus and work in different areas, such as printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and interactive media, while engaging with ideas and concepts.Glimpse is an invitation to peek inside the studios of current MFA candidates in visual arts and interdisciplinary studies. The works exhibited are works in progress and continually evolving. MFA candidates are not only at different stages within their program, but also focus and work in different areas, such as printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and interactive media, while engaging with ideas and concepts.
