Let The Gorey Show Begin!

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity on the third floor gallery of the Society of Illustrators in New York City. After more than a year of planning, the exhibition Something Else Entirely, The Illustration Art of Edward Gorey will open to the public on Saturday October 4th and will be on display through the end of the year.

With the gallery walls prepped and ready for the original artworks gathered together from near and far, the process of composing the exhibit began early Thursday morning this week. 

Steve Compton, director of Exhibitions and Collections (pictured right) headed an exhibition hanging crew that included guest curator and collector Russell Lehrer (pictured left).

With multiple display areas and two levels, the airy gallery space retains a feeling of intimacy that is perfect for displaying Mr. Gorey's works.

Exhibition rarities were sorted as the space began to fill with fabulous examples of Edward Gorey's original artworks.

As selected groupings of artwork were finalized, the work of hanging the show began in earnest. Steve Compton positions art from The 12 Terrors of Christmas.

The Society of Illustrators executive director Arabelle Liepold stopped into the gallery during the hanging to offer advice and encouragement.

Jonathan Logan, the Society's exhibitions associate and art handler accepted and unpacked a much anticipated late arrival from California.

Russell Lehrer continued to group rare pieces throughout the day. Along with Russell, I am a guest curator for the show but was unable to travel to New York to help with setup in person. Through Russell's efforts throughout the day sending texts and photographs I was able to offer encouragement and opinions from afar.

Will Baker from the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust offers placement suggestions for a piece of art that was deemed "too scary" for the 1969 cover of Some Things Are Scary by Florence Parry Heide. 

With most of the artworks placed by late Thursday afternoon, the crew retired to rest and regroup for their return on Friday.

 Day 2 began with the installation of a large wall mural with introductory text that will greet visitors to the gallery. 

Several display cases were filled with books and ephemera from Russell Lehrer's extensive collection, each relating to the artworks on display. 

By the end of the day on Friday, the gallery only needed some finishing touches and a general straightening to welcome visitors on Saturday morning!

For more information on the Society of Illustrators, including gallery hours and special events go to https://societyillustrators.org.

 Photos courtesy of Russell Lehrer and The Society of Illustrators.