Andrew Edlin at Paris+ Par Art Basel, Booth E06
October 18-22, 2023
Andrew Edlin Gallery is pleased to feature works by artists George Widener (b. 1962),
Karla Knight (b.1958), and Paulina Peavy (1901-1999), all of whom have unique perspectives on the paranormal. Paris + marks the first time Peavy and Knight have been exhibited in Europe.
By examining momentous events spanning centuries, George Widener posits that the dates of disasters like plane crashes, earthquakes and hurricanes can be predictive of their future occurrence. A calendar savant with prodigious memory and mathematical skills, Widener also embeds numeric games in his artworks, intended for intelligent machines to decode in the distant future. Recently, the artist has embarked on a series inspired by his participation in the Ukrainian relief effort. Krakow to Ukraine (2023), a large mixed media work on paper which maps his aid convoy’s route from Poland in the format of a military battle plan, will be a highlight of our booth.
Karla Knight’s contemplations on space travel and UFOs are revealed in her diagrammatic paintings, drawings, and more recently, tapestries which incorporate her invented language of glyphs and symbols designed to communicate with unknown forces. These tapestries, which are part of a new Universal Remote series, feature boxy television-like forms—receiver screens that are open to an endless number of possible readings.
Paulina Peavy’s (1901-1999) art and belief system challenged gender norms and embraced occult traditions. She saw herself as an emissary, a messenger for advanced beings contextualized through the phenomenon of UFOs. A radical innovator, Peavy became the first established fine artist to be publicly associated with the movement known as astroculture. Guided by a bodiless entity identified as Lacamo, whom she claimed to have first encountered at a Los Angeles séance in 1932, Peavy was deeply immersed in the study of ancient cultures, especially the Egyptians. In her quest to probe the reaches of available esoteric literature and philosophy, she joins the ranks of other women channeler-artists including Hilma Af Klint and Agnes Pelton. Our presentation at Paris + will include two paintings that were commissioned for and displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939.
Two additional works will anchor our booth: The Sorcerer’s Mirror at 100 Seconds to Midnight (2022) by Joe Coleman (b. 1955) and an untitled sculpture by Judith Scott (1943-2005), an image of which is reproduced on the cover of the catalogue for her 2014 solo exhibition, Bound and Unbound, at the Brooklyn Museum.
George Widener’s art is currently included in two museum exhibitions: Sophie Calle: Á Toi de Faire Ma Mignonne (It’s up to You, My Darling) at the Musée Picasso (Paris), and American Voices and Visions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC). His work has been exhibited internationally including at Secret Universe (2013), a solo show at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, and was featured in The Alternative Guide to the Universe (2013) at the Hayward Gallery, London. Widener’s work is in the permanent collections of many museums including the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), the American Folk Art Museum (New York) the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Collection de l’Art Brut (Lausanne).
Karla Knight’s solo show Navigator was held at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, CT) in 2021-22. A second edition of the exhibition book will be published in October 2023. The artist’s forthcoming solo show, Universal Remote, will be held at the gallery and run concurrently with a solo presentation of her work at the Art Show (ADAA) at the Park Avenue Armory (New York). Knight’s work is currently featured in the group exhibition, Sightings, at the Sun Valley Museum of Art (ID), and is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), among others.
Paulina Peavy’s (1901-1999) work was featured in MoMA PS 1’s Greater New York (2021-22) and is the subject of a new monograph, Paulina Peavy: Etherian Channeler by Laura Whitcomb.
Her art is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Portland Museum of Art (ME).