5 Year Anniversary Exhibition featuring works by Vahakn Arslanian, Carl Binder, Herman Bossert, Henry Darger, Mario del Curto, Tom Duncan, Paul Edlin, Etta Ehrlich, Brent Green, Albert Hoffman, Hans Krüsi, Marc Lamy, Michael Ryan, Linda Carmella Sibio, John Spinks, T.V.- Tommy Vision, Adolf Wölfli and Malcah Zeldis
Paul Edlin had been creating his exquisite postage stamp collages for almost 15 years by the time I saw a small solo exhibition of them in the library at Gordon College in 1996. I had no idea that my father's younger brother was so accomplished an artist. His hearing loss had prevented him from taking on the daunting task of seeking gallery representation in his home city of New York.
I could not have foreseen that my offer to help my uncle would lead to the creation of the Andrew Edlin Gallery. In 1996 I knew nothing about the artworld and had never heard of"outsider art". Yet when American Primitive Gallery sold 14 of Paul's small collages and received a glowing New York Times review both my uncle's life and mine were forever changed.
In 1999, I began to curate small shows in our family's Hoboken town house and in May of 2001 we opened the doors at 601 West 26th Street at a memorable if unorthodox space for a gallery. It was pure serendipity that a 25 year old artist named Vahakn Arslanian had a studio next door. I was completely taken with his work then as I am now.
I had met other artists like Tom Duncan, Michael Ryan and John Spinks whose work I believed in and remain deeply committed to. My trips to Switzerland in 2002 to track down the art of Hans Krüsi led to the first exhibition of his work outside of Europe. That success fueled my desire for subsequent travels and discoveries including rare works by Wölfli, van Genk and most recently the Richard Greaves site in rural Quebec.
In 2003, we found a venue in Miami Beach to mount an exhibition during the Art Basel fair . The great location and standout works by Darger, Wölfli, Ramirez and the gallery's artists resulted in an important step forward as the contemporary art community responded so enthusiastically to our program.
The highlight of these last years came when we were awarded the Henry Darger Estate at the beginning of 2006. We are eagerly anticipating a major solo exhibition Sound and Fury: The Art of Henry Darger which will open at La Maison Rouge in Paris on June 8, 2006. We are publishing an 80 page catalogue for the occasion.
We are grateful to all of our supporters for the success we have achieved and are looking forward to many more years together. Thank you!
Andrew Edlin
April 2006