Michele StuevenOften referred to as a Neo-Dadaist and credited as one of the creators of the pop-art movement, American painter and graphic artist Robert Rauschenberg believed that painting relates to both art and life and dedicated himself to “work in the gap between the two.”
In 2010, his Studio Painting (1960‑61), originally estimated at $6 million to $9 million, was bought from the collection of Michael Crichton for $11 million at Christie’s in New York. In 2019, the auction house sold his silkscreen painting Buffalo II (1964) for $88.8 million.
In honor of the centennial of Rauschenberg (1925–2008), one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Gemini G.E.L. will present an exhibition of 40 years of close collaboration with the artist, starting today through Friday, Dec. 19, with a companion exhibition at Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl in New York, on view through Saturday, Dec. 20.
Robert Rauschenberg in proofing session for ‘Illegal Tender L.A.’ at Gemini G.E.L. ©1991 Sidney B. Felsen
Rauschenberg’s relationship with Gemini began in February 1967, when the artist traveled to the Los Angeles publisher to embark on his first project, a collaboration that was marked by experimentation and invention.
Booster ©1967 Robert Rauschenberg and Gemini G.E.L LLC
His first edition, Booster, was conceived as “a self-portrait of inner man,” and was intended to include a single, full-body X-ray. When this proved technically impossible in LA, Rauschenberg and Gemini’s founders adapted – the artist was scanned in six sections, resulting in a print over six feet tall. His willingness to embrace limitation and transform it into possibility set the tone for a partnership that would span four decades and yield some of the most ambitious prints and multiples of the 20th century.
The Los Angeles exhibition at Gemini will feature more than 50 works produced across forty years of collaboration, plus never-before-exhibited editions, highlighting the legendary scope of his print and multiple projects. In addition to Booster, L.A. Uncovered #7, from 1998, and Sky Garden from 1969 will also be on display. As one of Gemini’s most prolific collaborators, Rauschenberg created more than 250 editions during the partnership.
Founded in 1966, Gemini G.E.L. is an LA-based publisher and artists’ workshop for limited-edition fine art prints and sculptures with two on-site galleries, one of which was designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 1979, that showcase the works it produces. Gemini has collaborated with many of the most influential artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including John Baldessari, Vija Celmins, Tacita Dean, Philip Guston, Ann Hamilton, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Julie Mehretu, Isamu Noguchi, Claes Oldenburg, and Ed Ruscha.
Gemini has produced some of the era’s most celebrated editioned multiples through lithography, etching, screen-printing, woodcut, and various sculptural media.
L.A. Uncovered #12 ©1998 Robert Rauschenberg and Gemini G.E.L. LLC