COURTESY WIKIPEDIA
Andrew Edlin Gallery will move to a new ground floor location at 212 Bowery this fall. The gallery, currently located on Tenth Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets, has operated out of Chelsea for the last 13 years.
Along with his gallery, which focuses on self-taught artists like Henry Darger, Edlin is the founder of Wide Open Arts, which purchased the Outsider Art Fair in 2012 and now runs editions of the fair in New York and Paris. Wide Open Arts will move its offices to 212 Bowery as well.
Edlin’s move continues something of a trend of Chelsea galleries opening up shop on the Lower East Side. Marianne Boesky and Marlborough have both opened up outposts in that neighborhood, as has, more recently, the dealer Zach Feuer after closing his gallery in Chelsea. In an interview, Edlin said his Chelsea landlord is developing his old building.
“Like so much of the neighborhood, our current location is going to be razed,” Edlin said, referring to the glut of construction overtaking Chelsea. “I’m sure the wrecking ball will be coming by in the next six or seven months. We just couldn’t find the right location in Chelsea. The fair and the gallery have been doing so well that we really needed a space that we could grow with. We’re excited we found that on the Bowery.”
The gallery will be more or less doubling its square footage at its new location. Edlin added that he was particularly fond of his address. “212,” he said. “How much more New York can you get?”