Art exhibit from right before COVID finally opens
STAMFORD — Jay Petrow’s art has been waiting for an audience.
The Westport painter had finished installing his work at the Mayor’s Gallery in Government Center in early 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic closed the building to the public.
That means the art has been on the 10th floor of the municipal structure all this time.
Now, with the gallery recently re-opening, Petrow’s exhibit titled “This Must Be The Place” is finally available for public viewing.
Petrow, a long-time resident of Westport and a native New Yorker, rarely produced any art for 30 years after graduating from Middlebury College in Vermont. Before that, he created mostly classical art, including portraits of friends and paintings of landscapes, according to information provided by the gallery.
After college, Petrow worked as a magazine art director for publications that included “Time,” “Sports Illustrated” and “Businessweek.”
After leaving the publishing world, Petrow changed careers completely and is now the principal owner of Petrow Gardens Landscape Design in Westport.
The experience of raising a son with autism led to an “art reawakening” for Petrow, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Gallery.
“Jay turned back to art as a conduit for his expression,” reads the release. “Working in an abstract expressionist style allowed Jay to decipher and translate his emotions directly onto the canvas.”
Petrow is quoted saying he explores painting from an explorer’s point of view.
“Initially I may choose a few colors as a starting point to explore the tension and vibrancy between them,” he said. “As the painting develops, it becomes more an exploration of my inner world and my emotional state in dealing with my son’s autism. My brush strokes and colors explode from within me as I process the different feelings I'm experiencing.”
He has shown his work locally in private galleries, libraries and arts centers. Over the past year, Petrow has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Vermont Studio Center, as well as an artist-in-residence at Weir Farms in Wilton. Most of the paintings in the Mayor’s Gallery exhibit were created during his last year of residencies.
Petrow’s work is on display through Sept. 8, when a closing reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The gallery, on the 10th floor of the Government Center, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.