Harley

En recuerdo a nuestro amigo y colega...

In memory of our friend and colleague...

(October 15, 1940 / January 10, 2016)

Harley (Terra Candella) was born on Oct 15, 1940 in New Albany, Indiana. He studied painting and art history at Indiana University and Oberlin College.

Harley had an interest in philately from an early age, and this interest ultimately led him to establishing his own local post, Tristan Local Post, in 1975 in Oberlin, Ohio. The name was chosen because of a long time interest (via philately) in the Tristan da Cunha islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Harley began to issue stamps from Tristan Local Post, but he was not aware of other stamp artists and Mail Art until seeing the catalogue of the artiststamp exhibition organized by James Felter at Simon Fraser University in 1975-76. This opened up various contacts for Harley, and he began to participate in the mail art network.

In 1978 Harley closed Tristan Local Post and created his own country, Terra Candella (Land of Light). It was under these auspices that all future mail art would be conducted. He continued to broaden his contacts in the network, including his first trip to Europe in 1980 to meet with other mail artists. Harley facilitated the exhibition of artistsamps at Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in 1978, an exhibition organized by Al Souza. This was followed by a large mail art show curated by Harley at SPACES Gallery in Cleveland, and then in 1987 he organized the Corresponding Worlds exhibition at Allen Memorial Art Museum.