Out of Their Hands: Bruce Nauman and Susan Rothenberg at Gemini G.E.L.

On view from March 2 through April 30, 2016, Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl is pleased to present a partial survey of prints and sculptures created independently by Nauman and Rothenberg but in collaboration with the Gemini G.E.L. workshop dating back to the 1980s.

Bruce Nauman and Susan Rothenberg live together on a ranch in New Mexico. Although their studios are on the same property, and they absorb the same day-to-day scenes and share a deep love for animals, their art is distinct in its approach and content. Both artists have, at times, isolated body parts – hands, heads, arms, mouths – but often to very different effects. Interestingly, in their projects with the Gemini G.E.L. workshop in Los Angeles, particularly those after the two became a couple in the 1980s, a significant visual connection can be perceived.

In Rothenberg's work, one immediately sees the evidence of her hand. Sensual and deeply emotional, mark-making is the place where her art begins. The imagery is not without importance, but what seems to spur her creative process is the application of her hand to the material (be it paint, the printmaking plate or, in the case of her sole sculpture project with Gemini, the clay used to generate her series of 17 Heads, ultimately made of solid silver).

The emotion in Nauman's prints is more laconic; he investigates gesture as much as he uses it. His drawing technique is spare yet substantial. In each mark, there's a motion and subtle touch that energizes the imagery. Like Rothenberg, he is an experienced printmaker, and he uses the medium in sly and sophisticated ways, always conscious that the marks he applies to the printing elements will be reversed in the final work on paper.

While Nauman and Rothenberg share a common intensity in their artistic activity, principally this presentation invites an examination of their individual creative impulses.

For additional information or visuals contact: Elizabeth Fodde-Reguer 212-249-3324 [email protected]