The Artist Observed

COLLABORATION, THE PORTRAITS OF SIDNEY B. FELSEN

'The spirit of Gemini is best captured by the word 'collaboration.' It's about artists and printers working hand in hand to create works of art. This same spirit prevails when I take photos. There's a trust extended by the artists, allowing me to share so many special moments with them.'
-Sidney Felsen

'Recently, watching Ken Burns's captivating television documentary jazz, I did revel in my music. I was dumbfounded by the latent power of those old grainy images-so contextually rich-as each decade danced to life on the faces of legendary names. And yes, it's jazz that brings me to Sidney B. Felsen. Sidney's photographs are like the best of those that enlivened Burns's story of American music-imparting pungent memories of time and place.'
-Constance W. Glenn

Sidney Felsen founded Gemini Gel (Graphics Editions Limited) in 1956 and soon after began to photograph the artists who came to work in what has become America's premier graphics studio. Artists from Bruce Nauman and architect Frank Gehry (who also designed the Gemini Studios in 1979) to the American masters Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein became subjects for Sid Felsen's camera. On November 4, 2001, the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., opens an exhibition celebrating the prints of Gemini Gel and Sidney Felsen's portraits of the artists at work.