A former Swope Art Museum curator and Marshall, Illinois, resident will have a solo show beginning in August.
The show, “Whispers of Memory: Intimate Animal Portraits” by Elizabeth Lisa Petrulis will run from Aug. 2 through Sept. 21 in the Art Space Vincennes gallery.
An opening reception will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 2 as part of the Vincennes First Friday Art Walk. She will speak during the reception.
Petrulis’ solo show features her current exploration of color and gesture, in the context of a ten-year sojourn into the expressive potential of her creature subjects: dogs, cats and horses.
The works vary in size and media, ranging from 4’ x 4’ drawings such as “Binary Star” to small colorful glimpses of brief moments in the lives of her animal companions as in “Sniff.”
Petrulis said, “Animals have been my friends, my amusement, and helped me through awkward times. I paint them with curiosity and joy. In earlier works, a classic pallet of black and white spotlights the animal’s elegance and peculiarities. In more recent paintings color is let loose.”
Raised by classical musicians, Petrulis received a master of fine arts from Indiana State University. She retired as curator at the Swope Art Museum and she is involved with the Wabash Valley Art Spaces public sculpture project in Terre Haute.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, she now lives on the rural edge of Marshall, Illinois. She and her husband have homed a number of wayward cats and dogs, the models for many of her portraits.
Art Space Vincennes regular gallery’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 812-887-6145.
