Sixty years of ink: Los Angeles workshop lays out its print history year by year
Sixty years on, a Los Angeles print workshop is telling its own story one year at a time.
Gemini G.E.L., founded in 1966, is marking its sixth decade with the exhibition ‘(Almost) Every Year: Sixty Years of Printmaking at Gemini G.E.L.’ at its gallery in Los Angeles, according to Artnet News. The show gathers work from nearly every year of the workshop’s existence and hangs it in chronological order.
It started with friends. Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, fraternity brothers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, teamed up with master printer Kenneth Tyler to open the shop. Tyler left in 1974 to form his own company.
The anniversary exhibition is curated by Susan Dackerman and Helen Molesworth. Ayn Grinstein is co-director of Gemini G.E.L.
Early on, the workshop built a name with large, ambitious prints. Robert Rauschenberg’s Booster, made at Gemini in 1967, was at the time the largest art print ever produced, Artnet News reports. Rauschenberg also made his Earth Day poster at Gemini in Los Angeles as a large lithograph — a print made from a stone or metal plate — in an edition, or numbered set of identical prints, of 50.
Other long collaborations followed. John Baldessari, the California conceptual artist, began working with Gemini in 1991.
The building itself is part of the story. Gemini’s facilities were designed by architect Frank Gehry. The workshop is based at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, according to its website.
Gemini’s website also points to a wider anniversary programme, including a 60th Anniversary listing for 21 February to 25 April 2026 at Marian Goodman Gallery in Los Angeles, at 1120 Seward Street, and a dedicated anniversary section online. A separate listing titled ‘Impressions of Los Angeles: 60 Years of Printmaking at Gemini G.E.L.’, described by Gemini G.E.L. as covering the range of artists and print media nurtured over 60 years, is curated by Dackerman.
What makes this stand out for visitors is the format. A year-by-year hang lets anyone walk the timeline. You can see techniques change and partnerships come and go without needing any background in printmaking.
