Frank Gehry: new sculpture and prints at Joni Moisant Weyl, New York

Memory of Sophie Calle's Flower, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Marques de Riscal Winery
Installation view (from left): Memory of Sophie Calle's Flower, 2012; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 2009; and Marques de Riscal Winery, 2009
(Image credit: Chris Santa Maria)

It's hard to imagine Frank Gehry having any more surprises left up his sleeve, yet the opening of an exhibition of new works from the starchitect at Joni Moisant Weyl gallery in New York last week proved us to be very wrong.

Over the last decade, Gehry has been creating prints and sculptures with the Los Angeles-based artists' workshop Gemini G.E.L. The abbreviation stands for Graphic Editions Limited, and the workshop has been challenging artists to draw or carve directly onto printing elements since its inception in 1966.

Joni Moisant Weyl's exhibition brings together a survey of Gehry's previous works, including lithograph prints of both past and unrealized architectural projects that offer a rare glimpse into the architect's creative process. In most cases, Gehry approaches each project with a sketch, which then undergoes several rounds of refinement before they take a three-dimensional form.

While many of the works on display don't quite count as preparatory sketches, it is easy to spot the forms of the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi, the IAC building in New York and the Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles, amongst others.

The gallery, which has been Gemini's East Coast platform since 1984, also debuts a new resin sculpture titled 'Memory of Sophie Calle's Flower', which refers to the telephone booth Gehry created with the conceptual artist in 2006 and had installed on a bridge stretching across the River Seine in Paris.  

To do the works their due justice, the gallery enlisted the expertise of their architects Stamberg Aferiat + Associates to design the exhibition. The pair chose to dress the gallery walls in vibrant orange, making it the perfect backdrop for the large vinyl sketch of Gehry's iconic Marques de Riscal Winery.

Marques de Riscal Winery

Marques de Riscal Winery, 2009.

(Image credit: © Frank Gehry and Gemini G.E.L. LLC)

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 2009.

(Image credit: © Frank Gehry and Gemini G.E.L. LLC)

Puzzled #6, 2011

Puzzled #6, 2011.

(Image credit: © Frank Gehry and Gemini G.E.L. LLC)

IAC 1, 2007

IAC 1, 2007.

(Image credit: © Frank Gehry and Gemini G.E.L. LLC)

Beekman Street Housing, 2009.

Beekman Street Housing, 2009.

(Image credit: © Frank Gehry and Gemini G.E.L. LLC)

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Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.