Hirschl & Adler Modern Gallery is showing the recently discovered work by Outsider artist James
Edward Deeds, Jr. in an exhibition featuring thirty drawings created during a forty-five year period when Deeds was a mental patient in State Hospital No. 3 in Nevada, Missouri. His handbound album of 140 double-sided drawings was given to his family in 1970 when he was discharged. Accidentally discarded by movers, the book was rescued from a trash heap by a boy who kept it for forty years. The only clue to the artist’s identity was the hospital’s stationary and it took extensive forensic research to identify the maker as Mr. Deeds. Deeds’ life story, images, and 18-minute documentary can be found at www.electricpencildrawings.com/index.html. This March, a larger selection of sixty to eighty drawings will debut at the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, the premier showcase for Outsider art.
The Electric Pencil will be on view through February 9, 2013 at The Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue, NYC. For information call 212.535.8810 or visit www.hirschlandadler.com.
