Elizabethan Gallery shows some memorable works in June
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The display space at Elizabethan Gallery, 680 Jefferson Highway, seems almost endless, as many artists show groups of paintings, like mini-surveys of their work, which gives the show depth and meaning.
The gallery has recently been renovated, you guessed it, to provide more display space. Gallery owners say they want to accommodate all local artists, and resent anything that curtails their ambitious goal. It’s a fascinating concept, and has brought many excellent artists to the public, often without fanfare. But the art goes on view, and if it has merit, it’s the start of a career in art, in the Baton Rouge area, at least.
A number of artists are displaying their work until the end of the month. Among some memorable ones are Judy Dori, whose elegant, small, still life pieces pair two roses with glistening wineglasses; and Carol Hallock and Kay Lusk, whose beautiful, huge, colorful studies of individual blossoms have visitors studying the shape and color of each individual bloom.
The show also introduces a new African artist, Manuel, who had only been in the U.S. for three weeks when he appeared with his remarkable art work. He draws the natural life, animal and botanical, of his native country and makes you feel you’ve just returned from a short but tense and intimate visit to Africa. His elephant, although neatly contained in his exhibit space, seems ready to stomp out into your world and fell a big oak tree for lunch.
His animals are drawn on squares of burlap, which are mounted on sturdy wooden frames. There is something almost eerie about the realism of these beasts, who are ready to join you on the streets of Baton Rouge. And the unique presentation, the heavy wooden stands to which the art work is attached, adds to its appeal.
Annie Strack is a new artist for the gallery, displaying marine scenes, some with boats and others simply beautiful water and sky, with elegant clouds reflected in water flowing away in the distance.
In “Red Dinghy,” a cluster of boats are shown moored at piers in a waterway. The red boat of the title is obvious, and offers the only different splash of color in the entire group of marine paintings.
Strack, a native of Florida, has the correct touch for marine life, and her work is a pleasure.
Elayne Keuhler honors the Louisiana landscape and waterscape in her paintings. Her skies are brushed with clouds, and she uses trees as focal points in many scenes. A single huge oak tree dominates one of her works.
Vitalija Svencionyte does beautiful paintings, clusters of unusual objects including an occasional face, a flowing fabric and a menacing dark swath that somehow holds the whole thing together. Her work is fascinating.
The next show at Elizabethan Gallery opens July 9. Some of the works designed for this exhibition are already on view and more are being installed every day, so check it out. You’ll likely find something new just any time you enter the doors of this spacious exhibit space.
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