Catherine Edelman Gallery

The key word here would be «beauty.» While Catherine Edelman Gallery features photographers such as Joel-​Peter Witkin, whose mainly still life imagery highlights the beautiful within the disturbing, the main focus seems to lean towards photographers working in a more classic, or beautiful, line of image making, such as Michael Kenna.
There is little doubt here that the emphasis is on a general kind of beauty, and, in the work of many of the other artists represented by CE, one can note a conspicuous hint of pastoralism. This seems almost to be residue from photography’s earliest stages of conceptual development in Victorian England. But, unlike the work of Frederick Evans et al, CE’s collection is not so much about seeking refuge from the rapidly industrializing world via an objective lens as it is about selling beautiful prints.
CE’s space is located below street level, and the lay out is designed for heavy foot traffic. The gallery also publishes several beautiful books. In CE one finds a particular facet of contemporary and historical photography, i.e. beautiful photography. This might be a satisfying enough notion, except when one remembers that Robert Mapplethorpe capped this mode decades ago, and that CE doesn’t have any Mapplethorpes.

This gallery had the most build up to it. If you have made a name for yourself in photography you’ll be found at Catherine Edelman at some point or another and upon arrival there was much to see. The building held many sets by different artists, all with prices listed with the title and photographer. The gallery itself is in a good location, it has a nice tour space set up to showcase. The only down point is that the people working there seem only to be interested in you if you’re interested in spending money on anything there.

This veteran gallery emphasizes photography, and also displays mixed media art that includes photographs. It has recently expanded its gallery space.