The Venetians

An invitation to present one’s work at the Venice Biennale is a pivotal moment in any artists’ career, whether established or aspiring. At the 1964 Biennale, Robert Rauschenberg was awarded the Grand Prize; the Biennale’s recognition of Rauschenberg, then 38 years old and still the youngest artist so-honored to date, has been credited with introducing Pop Art to the artistic canon. Shortly after receiving the award, Rauschenberg came to Los Angeles and published his first of many Gemini prints. Gemini artists Robert Gober, Ann Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Bruce Nauman, Isamu Noguchi, and Ed Ruscha have also represented the United States in the American Pavilion, and Joel Shapiro’s sculptures were exhibited in 1980 at the Biennale. For the French Pavilion in 2007, Sophie Calle exhibited Take Care of Yourself, an installation based on 107 women’s interpretations of her ex’s eponymous final words in his break-up email. Also in 2007, the Biennale’s first American Commissioner, then-Museum of Modern Art curator and art historian Robert Storr, mounted a critically acclaimed group exhibition including artworks by Ellsworth Kelly, Elizabeth Murray and Susan Rothenberg. Since 1986, the Biennales have awarded the Leone d’Oro (Golden Lion) to both the Best Pavilion and an artist’s Lifetime Achievement. In addition to American Pavilion artists Johns and Nauman, John Baldessari, Richard Serra, and Franz West have each received this prestigious award for their lifelong contributions to artistic achievement. Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl is proud to showcase Gemini publications by each of these artists as the 2015 Venice Biennale ushers in a new era of art and a new generation of artists.