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Andrew Edlin Gallery’s “Conduits of the Unseen: Women Artists Imagine Other Worlds” presents work by 17 women artists associated with spirit communication. Curator Susan Aberth links the artists’ messages to efforts to challenge patriarchy, while the exhibition also revisits how spiritualist practices influenced Surrealism.
Andrew Edlin Gallery is presenting “Conduits of the Unseen: Women Artists Imagine Other Worlds,” an exhibition of work by 17 women artists whose practices emerged through spirit communication, according to a Hyperallergic review. The exhibition’s curator, Susan Aberth, frames the artists’ messages as a challenge to patriarchy, putting women’s spiritualist art and its influence on later art history at the center of the show.
The review describes paintings by Paulina Peavy as a focal point of the exhibition. Her works feature vivid, layered forms and are displayed against cobalt-blue walls at the gallery’s Tribeca location. Peavy attributed the imagery to Lacamo, a nonbinary spirit she said began communicating with her in the 1930s. The source reports that Peavy understood Lacamo’s message as envisioning humanity’s evolution toward “one-gender perfection.” That account is presented as Peavy’s spiritual belief, not as an independently verifiable event.
The exhibition brings together 17 women artists, with the source describing their work as emerging through spirit communication. In a lecture about the show, Aberth said the messages she encountered across the artists’ practices were directed toward improving the world. She summarized a recurring theme as opposition to patriarchy. The review situates the show amid a wider increase in exhibitions with occult themes, but says this exhibition stands out for focusing on how esoteric art can challenge social hierarchies.
The review also draws a historical connection to Surrealism. André Breton’s concept of “psychic automatism” involved reducing conscious control so unconscious thought could shape artistic work. Aberth said Breton took the idea from spiritualist women but removed its metaphysical content, recasting the practice as an expression of the individual psyche. The account highlights how women’s spiritualist practices may be relevant to art history even when later movements presented related ideas in different terms.
Women’s Spiritualist Art and Surrealism
The exhibition matters because it places women spiritualists in the frame as artists and sources of ideas, rather than treating spirit communication only as a subject of occult interest. Aberth’s interpretation gives the show a social and political focus: the works’ messages, as she describes them, call for changes to entrenched hierarchies, including patriarchy.
The historical comparison also raises questions about how artistic concepts are credited and reframed. Aberth’s account links psychic automatism to spiritualist women and says Breton detached it from its metaphysical basis. That interpretation invites viewers to consider how later art movements may have absorbed practices developed by people who received less recognition. The source material does not provide a full account of the artists’ biographies or the evidence behind each historical connection, so the exhibition’s argument should be understood through the review’s reporting of Aberth’s remarks.
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From Mediumship to Psychic Automatism
Spirit communication has been part of the practices of some women artists represented in the show. The review describes this exhibition not simply as a collection of work linked to the occult, but as an effort to explore what artists and audiences might make possible through esoteric art. Its central example, Peavy’s account of Lacamo, connects the work’s imagery to a claimed spiritual source and a vision of changing gender relations.
The review’s reference to Surrealism supplies a focused historical backdrop. Psychic automatism is described as a method of loosening conscious control over the making of art. Aberth argues that Breton drew from spiritualist women while removing the metaphysical dimension of their practice. The exhibition thus brings together two connected questions: how spiritual beliefs shaped particular artists’ work, and how artistic ideas moved between spiritualist practice and better-known modern art movements.
“Their messages are specifically meant to better the world.”
— Susan Aberth, curator, in a lecture about the exhibition
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Exhibition Dates and Historical Evidence
The source material does not state when the exhibition opened or closes, whether it remains on view, or whether related public programs are scheduled. It also does not list all 17 artists, provide a complete checklist of works, or describe how the gallery presents each artist’s account of spirit communication.
Several points are interpretations or spiritual claims rather than independently established facts. Peavy attributed her work to Lacamo, and Aberth characterized recurring spiritual messages as opposing patriarchy. Aberth’s account of Breton’s debt to spiritualist women is also reported through the review; the supplied material does not include further historical documentation or responses from other scholars. Those distinctions matter when assessing the exhibition’s claims about artistic influence and intent.
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Gallery Details and Public Programs
The source identifies Andrew Edlin Gallery in Tribeca as the exhibition venue but supplies no dates or information about future events. Readers seeking to visit or attend a lecture will need to check the gallery’s current listings for its display schedule and program details.
Further reporting could clarify the full artist roster, the exhibition’s dates, and the research behind its account of spiritualist influence on Surrealism. For now, the confirmed development is the exhibition’s presentation and the argument described in the review: that these artists’ spirit-linked practices can be read as both creative work and a challenge to social hierarchies.
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Key Questions
What is “Conduits of the Unseen: Women Artists Imagine Other Worlds”?
It is an exhibition at Andrew Edlin Gallery featuring work by 17 women artists whose practices, according to the review, emerged through spirit communication.
Who is Paulina Peavy?
Paulina Peavy is an artist represented in the exhibition. She attributed her work to Lacamo, a nonbinary spirit she said began communicating with her in the 1930s.
What does the exhibition say about patriarchy?
Curator Susan Aberth said that messages associated with the artists’ work were intended to improve the world and described opposition to patriarchy as a recurring theme. This is Aberth’s interpretation, as reported by Hyperallergic.
How does the exhibition connect to Surrealism?
Aberth connects spiritualist women’s practices to psychic automatism, a method associated with Surrealism that reduces conscious control in art-making. She argues that André Breton adopted the idea while removing its metaphysical content.
When can the exhibition be visited?
The supplied source does not give exhibition dates or confirm whether it is currently on view. Check Andrew Edlin Gallery’s current listings for schedule information.
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