Brazil's Galeria Estação to Debut at Outsider Art Fair, 5/8-11

"Wandering the floor of the Outsider Art Fair can sometimes feel like being transported to another planet, or at least half-way around the globe," says Andrew Edlin, CEO of Wide Open Arts, the producer of the Fair, which runs from May 8 - 11 at Chelsea's Center 548 (548 W. 22nd St, New York, NY). "And this year, many of our dealers will be bringing art from faraway places," he adds. One prominent gallery whose exhibit promises to be a highlight is Galeria Estação, from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The creations of Estação's artists are as varied and distinct as their extraordinary life stories. Three of them were featured in the 2012 groundbreaking exhibition Histoires de Voir at the Cartier Foundation in Paris. Look below for more examples of the work!

Alcides Pereira dos Santos (1932-2007) cobbled shoes and cut hair before receiving, at age 19, a divine revelation that he should be an artist. That conviction shows in his work, whose inimitable use of vibrant colors and bold geometries permeates his large-scale paintings of ships, trucks, trains, and aircraft.

Francisco da Silva (1910-1985) was born in the Amazon and lived most of his life in Fortaleza. Da Silva worked as a jack-of-all-trades-stonemason, shoemaker, plumber, welder-but his favorite thing "was to draw on the walls of fishermen's houses using fresh green grass and white and red bricks (because I didn't have paint at the time)," as he later explained. When he got his hands on paint, he made the most of it, creating exuberant canvases whose various creatures-from exotic fish to mighty dragons-span the realms of nature and myth. Recalling a moment when mainstream art figures in the 1940s first took note of his work, da Silva said that none of the curators knew the names of the fish he painted-"because each day I'd invent a different fish: my mind's full of fishes."

And then there is Véio (b. 1948), born a farmer in Sertao-whose people, sertanejos, are the Brazilian equivalent of American cowboys. The 66 year-old makes art from tree stumps, to explore the history of his people and the constantly shifting relationship between nature and culture.

For twenty-one years, the Outsider Art Fair has been the world's foremost annual show of Outsider, Self-Taught, and Folk Art. And for twenty-one years, the Outsider Art Fair took place in winter. In 2014, for the first time, the Fair will take place in the spring, from May 8 - 11at Chelsea's Center 548, the former home of the Dia Art Foundation, located at 548 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011. These dates coincide with the New York edition of Britain's Frieze Art Fair.

The Outsider Art Fair opens Thursday, May 8. God's Love We Deliver, the NYC metropolitan area's leading provider of life-sustaining meals and nutrition counseling for people living with severe illness, will be the evening's beneficiary. Admission for early access, from 3:00-6:00 p.m., is $100. The general Vernissage benefiting God's Love We Deliver is from 6:00-9:00 p.m., with an admission price of $50. Daily tickets for the remainder of the show will be $20 and a pass for the full run $50. Hours are Friday, May 9th and Saturday, May 10th from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday May 11th from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For more information please contact info@outsiderartfair.com or 212-337-3338

Please visit www.OutsiderArtFair.com