This year's feature presentation is a tribute to the many female artists and Master Printers with whom Gemini has worked during its sixty-year history. At its founding in 1966, Gemini G.E.L. was on the forefront of adventuresome American printmaking, yet it was virtually a men’s club. The co-founders, the printers and the artists were, with one or two exceptions, all men.
By 1981-82, Vija Celmins and Dorothea Rockburne were invited to make editions, and women began to play a truly important role in the creative life at Gemini. Celmins was instrumental in firmly establishing the introduction of etching into Gemini’s studio practice, and works by Rockburne, printed on both sides of Transpagra and folded into geometric shapes, expanded the notion of traditional lithography. In 1986 the relationship with Susan Rothenberg began, and by 1992, Elizabeth Murray arrived, both breaking boundaries in processes, scale and imagery. Eight years later, collaborations with Ann Hamilton started, creating extraordinarily varied prints and editioned sculptures. The Gemini roster was still very much male-dominated, but progress was being made.
At the dawn of the 21st century, Gemini’s invitations to women artists truly expanded, and since 2005, nine women have made editions with Gemini. Some, like Tacita Dean, Toba Khedoori, Julie Mehretu and Analia Saban, have been the dominant presence in the studios, creating projects resulting in over 110 editions.
In a business run for nearly 58 years by men, today Gemini is managed by four women – the wife and daughters of Gemini co-founders Felsen and Grinstein. And today, all the projects currently underway at Gemini are with women.
A woman’s place is, indeed, in the workshop.
