Gemini G.E.L. Celebrates 60 Years Of Printmaking Innovation

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Los Angeles-based artists' workshop and publisher Gemini G.E.L. is observing its sixth decade with an exhibition titled“(Almost) Every Year: Sixty Years of Printmaking at Gemini G.E.L.” The show is currently on view at the organization's gallery at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, running from September 10, 2026, to January 8, 2027.

Co-directors Susan Dackerman and Helen Molesworth curated the exhibition, which features works from nearly every year of Gemini's operation. The chronological arrangement highlights the publisher's collaborations with artists and its history of innovation in printmaking. Gemini G.E.L. has, over its 60-year history, expanded the definition of what a print can be, producing large-scale lithographs, prints on unconventional materials like player-piano rolls, and editions that resemble sculpture more than traditional works on paper.

The workshop, founded in 1966 by Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, along with master printer Kenneth Tyler, who departed in 1974, initially aimed to provide artists with extensive creative freedom. Ayn Grinstein, a co-director of Gemini, recalled,“Artists could do whatever they wanted to do here. It was our job when they said, 'I want to do this,' to go, 'Okay,' then figure out how we're going to do that. But we went out and did it.”

Notable works featured in the exhibition include Claes Oldenburg's sculptural Profile Airflow (1969) and Jasper Johns's Land's End (1979). The exhibition also showcases Gemini's expertise in color, evident in Ellsworth Kelly's abstractions, Julie Mehretu's aquatints, and Vija Celmins's delicate night sky images. Molesworth noted that the works together demonstrate“the longevity and the consistency of Gemini's vision,” while Dackerman described the sheer volume of the company's archive as“astounding,” adding,“They've managed over 60 years to keep the quality of their output at the highest possible level.”

Artists such as Josef Albers, Robert Rauschenberg, and Richard Serra pushed the boundaries of printmaking at Gemini. Albers challenged them to create color illusions with only three inks, and Rauschenberg's Booster (1967) necessitated the development of a new press, becoming the largest art print made at the time. Oldenburg famously requested an automobile relief from a transparent, flexible material that took Tyler two years to perfect. Serra worked with Gemini for more than 50 years, producing over 300 editions. Joni Moisant Weyl, Sidney Felsen's widow and a co-director, stated that“Richard Serra certainly changed the way Gemini worked. The scale of what he was working on and the scope of it really changed Gemini in a very significant way.”

The impact of Gemini's artists extends beyond the workshop. Dackerman observed that the“washy veil of ink” in Johns's Figure 7 (1968) can be seen in later prints by Rauschenberg and Ann Hamilton, highlighting a“technical memory among the printmakers.” Stanley Grinstein passed away in 2014, and Sidney Felsen in 2024. The print market has transformed since Gemini's inception, with prints and multiples now achieving millions at auction and a proliferation of fine art print companies like Avant Arte. Gemini continues to add new artists to its roster, most recently Tacita Dean and Analia Saban.

Gemini has played a crucial role in cultivating the print landscape and the Los Angeles art scene. Its artworks are held in museum collections, and many artists invited to the workshop have become canonical figures, according to Molesworth. Dackerman pointed out the broad reach of Gemini's prints, noting their presence in public settings such as her local Cedars-Sinai hospital.“Gemini has really helped spread American art by ensuring that the artworks end up in public settings other than museums,” she commented, giving the example of Ed Ruscha's affordable prints, which helped disseminate his work. The Profile Airflow by Oldenburg, for example, was recently spotted in the New York penthouse of the late Dolly Parton.

Source: Artnet News

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