Facets of Endarkenment

Those who talk don’t know, those who know don’t talk

Stems Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of spells by the Los Angeles based artist andalchemist L.

Can a spell be cast to manifest enlightenment? And what is it anyways? The answer depends on who you ask. There’s a lot of ideas out there. Admittedly words are weak at approximating the qualities of a state of being that’s beyond language, a space of mind and soul and self and non self that can’t possibly be explained, yet can certainly be known. L, a practicing sorcerer and healer, has cast seven spells to summon a few of the differing yet linked facets of this union, all in an effort to polish the edges of that indestructible diamond and dark crystal. The stone of stones that simultaneously generates all dimensions and matter from the inexhaustible source and is perfectly pellucid.

Additionally, in the gallery, is a bottle of perfume that visitors of the exhibition will be able to apply to their bodies. It was made as a gift for L on the occasion of the recent Winter Solstice by the perfumer Christopher Gordon of Maison Anonyme. The scent’s name and invocation is “In LumineLucem”.

L (b. 1984, Salt Lake City) has had one person exhibitions at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City; AND NOW, Dallas; Shoot the Lobster, Los Angeles; JOAN, Los Angeles; Martos Gallery, New York. L is a co-founder of the open source spiritual community A.S.T.R.A.L.O.R.A.C.L.E.S, which has held gatherings at CAPITAL, San Francisco; Sandwich Gallery, Bucharest, and Five Car Garage, Los Angeles. Selected group exhibitions include Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills; Team Gallery, New York; Kerry Schuss, New York; CAPITAL, San Francisco; Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles + Bucharest; Venus over Los Angeles; Ellis King, Dublin; The LDS Church History and Art Museum, Salt Lake City; 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 SpikeQuarterly among many others.