Jay Petrow

I approach painting from an explorer's point of view. Initially a few colors may be chosen as a starting point to investigate the tension and vibrancy between these colors. However, as a painting develops, it slowly reveals my inner world and emotional state in dealing with my son’s autism. That ultimately guides the work.

I began painting in an abstract expressionist style after many years of representational work in order to connect with and express my experience fathering an autistic child. The day to day stresses and struggles to be a good father for my son have at times been overwhelming. Love, anger, humor, sadness, and loss become an explosive convergence of vivid color and expressive brush stroke. A subconscious level of interaction with my emotions and my spiritual energy informs me as I connect with my inner world and visualize what's happening on the canvas. I maintain this conversation from within and without throughout the painting process.

The entire body of work approximates a place that I inhabit physically and psychologically. My goal in painting is to recreate on canvas what I am experiencing inside, from high states of agitation and angst to areas of calm. Incorporating vibrant colors and layering textu...

2010-2018 Silvermine School of Art , New Canaan, CT

1984 School of Visual Arts, New York , NY

1977-1981 Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, BA in fine arts

Selected Exhibitions:

2020 'This Must Be The Place' Solo show at The Mayor's Gallery, Stamford, CT

2019 Silvermine Arts Center New Member, Group Show, New Canaan CT

2019 Silvermine Arts Center HeArt & Mind, Group Show, New Canaan CT

2019 Silvermine Arts Center Summer Salon, Group Show, New Canaan CT

2019 Maritime Gallery, “Migrating Colors” Group Show, Norwalk CT

2018 Citywide Open Studios | Artspace | New Haven, CT

2018 Carriage Barn Arts Center Annual Contemporary Art Group Show | New Canaan, CT

2018 Ely Whitney Center for Contemporary Art | Group Show “Unloaded” | New Haven, CT

2017 Spectrum Art Gallery Group Show, Essex, CT

2017 Westport Artist Collective Group Show, Westport Art Center

2015 "Gardens & Abstractions" Solo Exhibit, Wilton Library, Wilton, CT
Paintings with select photographs of garden designs

2014 "Painted Abstractions" Solo Exhibit, Westport Library Great Hall, Westport, CT

2014 Art About Town Juried exhibition, Westport, Connecticut

2014 Silvermine School of Art Juried Student Exhibition

1981 Christian A. Johnson Gallery, Middlebury College, Middlebury VT Group Show