L at Shoot the Lobster

Shoot The Lobster LA presents Facets of Being, a solo exhibition of eleven spells by the Los Angeles based alchemist L.

Facets of Being is the third in a trinity of exhibitions: Facets of Endarkenment at Stems Gallery Brussels – and Facets of Enlightenment at Marlborough Contemporary New York. The vessels and incantations of the previous shows addressed states of the individual and collective psyche in relation to transcendence.

These new spells link the astral, divine, and earth-bound realms. They primarily manifest material events and things related to the everyday needs and desires of being human. Some seem paradoxical at first glance. One spell for fullness, is full of empty bottles. Another for beauty and alchemical integration, is full of garbage that was gathered by L on a littered mountain trail. Every item that is placed into the vessels has a specific magical function, which often creates peculiar juxtapositions. Sometimes the materials are altered or charged in ritual before the spell is cast.

When the objects are combined into their respective microcosms, suspended in oil, they produce a cumulative energy that is greater than their individual essence. The floating vessels, in their unified configuration within the space, form an elliptical cycle that orbits around the body of the visitor. In the creation of these spells, L has drawn upon knowledge obtained from years of research and personal practice of folk and ceremonial magic, superstitious ritual, and esotericism.

L has held solo exhibitions at Martos Gallery, New York; Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City; Marlborough, New York; Stems Gallery, Brussels; AND NOW, Dallas; JOAN, Los Angeles. Collective exhibitions include Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Five Car Garage, Los Angeles; CAPITAL, San Francisco; Lefebvre + Fils, Paris; Sariev Gallery, Bulgaria. Selected group exhibitions include Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills; Team Gallery, New York; Kerry Schuss, New York; Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles + Bucharest; Venus over Los Angeles; Ellis King, Dublin; The Ghetto Biennale, Port-au-Prince. L’s work has been reviewed and written about in Frieze Magazine, Artforum, New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Spike Quarterly among many others.