Felsen’s Intimate Photos Capture Art’s Behind-the-Scenes Teamwork

For more than 30 years, Sidney B. Felsen has photographed the world-renowned artists who have worked with Gemini G.E.L., the innovative Melrose Avenue print workshop and limited-edition publishing enterprise he founded in 1966 with partners Stanley Grinstein and master printer Kenneth Tyler. Culled from several decades’ worth of Felsen’s work, “Artist’s Proof: Photographs by Sidney B. Felsen” at Cal State Long Beach’s University Art Museum offers a fascinating glimpse into the collaborations between Gemini printers and legendary artists.

Rather than focus solely on the art world’s movers and shakers, Felsen takes what we might describe as a shop-floor perspective, emphasizing the critical role played by the people who work behind the scenes. In Felsen’s intimate black-and-white photographs, artists, printers and technicians are shown working side by side in pursuit of common goals, although it is the artist’s name alone that appears on the finished product.

Along with L.A.’s Tamarind Lithography Workshop and Cirrus Editions, and the New York-based Universal Limited Art Editions, Gemini G.E.L. awakened artists and audiences alike to the cutting-edge possibilities of editioned artwork. In the 1960s, print workshops became the place where celebrated artists like Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Claes Oldenburg could experiment with new forms within a supportive, collaborative setting.

Since its inception, Gemini has contributed to L.A.’s rising international profile. In the 1960s and 1970s, Gemini served as an arterial channel between the Los Angeles and New York art worlds. Man Ray, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Vija Celmins, Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Richard Serra, and Ken Price, among others, have visited the groundbreaking workshop over the years, many returning again and again to launch projects of increasing complexity and ambition.

Felsen’s revealing portraits of famous artists are often framed within the context of Gemini’s vast work space, reminding us that art often requires muscle power. Art objects do not simply spring like magic from an artist’s head, but require the cooperation of artists, fabricators, technicians and assistants. Gemini’s characteristic can-do attitude is wryly encapsulated in a 1979 photograph of a burly, sweat-drenched staffer puffing away at a cigar while he strains to maneuver a 13,000-pound Hoe embossing press into Gemini’s etching studio. One of the show’s most memorable photographs, a gorgeous close-up of Rauschenberg’s hands at work that evokes a ballet dancer’s sinewy grace and physical stamina, provides another breathtaking example of Felsen’s ability to distill a range of ideas into a powerful iconic image.

Everyone appears remarkably relaxed and at ease in these photographs, even when hard at work. Roy Lichtenstein, photographed while drawing a series of fluid lines on an aluminum lithograph plate, is so completely focused on his task that he seems oblivious to Felsen’s presence. The rigorous work schedule is offset by parking-lot basketball games and backgammon, which allow everyone to let off steam.

These sorts of playful moments have provided Felsen with some of his best photographs. A 1969 photograph depicts an exuberant Rauschenberg riding an odd little two-wheeled bicycle around the Gemini parking lot after a marathon proofing session. Another depicts a dapper Hockney, fresh from a Hawaiian vacation, showing off his boldly patterned sport coat while perched atop the hood of a shiny convertible.

It’s also clear that Gemini is itself the product of artistic collaborations. The workshop’s spatial configuration, for example, remains constantly in flux to suit the needs of visiting artists. Gemini has responded uniquely to every new challenge, over time expanding its early emphasis on lithography to include screen printing, relief printing, etching and editioned sculpture (or “multiples”).

Given Gemini’s ongoing efforts to educate art audiences about graphic edition publishing through workshop tours and catalogs, it’s a shame that “Artist’s Proof” does not include any explanatory wall texts that would serve to contextualize the work that goes on at the landmark print shop. Although the exhibition’s checklist does identify the people pictured in the photographs, these brief captions assume, rather than amplify, the viewer’s knowledge of Gemini’s unique production methods.

Ultimately, however, Felsen’s palpable affection for his artist-friends and collaborators elevates his photographs beyond the realm of mere historical documentation. “Artist’s Proof” reminds us that the most ambitious works of art often depend upon a number of hands working in concert, and that collaboration is an art form in itself.

* “Artist’s Proof: Photographs by Sidney B. Felsen,” University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., (562) 985-5761, through April 25. Closed Mondays and March 27-April 5.