Gemini G.E.L.

Gemini G.E.L. is an artists' workshop, exhibition space, and publisher of limited edition prints and sculptures located at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1966, the workshop has played a central role in the development of American printmaking and editioned sculpture, collaborating with many of the most significant artists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Its work is documented and preserved through an archive at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which serves as a major research resource for scholars and collectors.

Gemini Ltd. was founded in 1965 by master printer Kenneth E. Tyler, an alumnus of the Tamarind Lithography Workshop (now Tamarind Institute) established by June Wayne. Several months later, Tyler was joined by business partners Sidney Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, and together they launched Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Editions Ltd.) on January 1, 1966. From its inception, the workshop operated as a collaborative environment where artists could work with master printers to realize editioned works across multiple media. In 1981, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. established the Gemini G.E.L. Archive, which functions as a study center containing the complete history of the workshop. The initial gift to the archive represented twenty-two artists, with further expected donations intended to provide comprehensive documentation of all prints published by Gemini since its founding.

Gemini G.E.L. produces and publishes editioned multiples in media including lithography, etching, screenprinting, woodcut, and a wide variety of sculptural materials. The workshop has collaborated with predominantly American artists to create and disseminate limited edition works. Its publishing program encompasses both traditional printmaking techniques and experimental approaches to three-dimensional multiples, reflecting the evolving interests of its artist collaborators and the technical innovation for which the workshop became known.

The workshop has collaborated with numerous major artists, including Robert Rauschenberg, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning, Claes Oldenburg, and Ed Ruscha. The initial archive gift to the National Gallery of Art included work by Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg, Oldenburg, David Hockney, and Lichtenstein. Other artists who have made prints at Gemini include James Rosenquist, Richard Serra, Elizabeth Murray, John Baldessari, and Julie Mehretu. The National Gallery of Art maintains an online catalogue raisonné documenting the workshop's publications.

Gemini G.E.L. is located at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The workshop operates as both a production facility and exhibition space, serving the dual function of artist studio and publisher from this single location.

Gemini G.E.L. maintains a website at www.geminigel.com. The workshop continues its operations as an active publisher and collaborative space for artists. Scholars and collectors seeking comprehensive documentation of its history may consult the Gemini G.E.L. Archive at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which serves as the primary study center for research into the workshop's activities and publications.