Lisa Anne Auerbach's 'Spells' exhibition weaves books, knitting, and subversion in Los Angeles survey

Los Angeles-based artist Lisa Anne Auerbach presented 'Spells,' her first hometown exhibition since 2007, featuring elaborate knitted tapestries that transform book titles from her personal library into visual compositions. These woolen works display juxtapositions like 'Soapmaking: A Magical Guide' near 'The Tao of Meow,' inviting viewers to interpret the artist's identity through her literary collection. Auerbach's practice has long incorporated knitting, initially creating sweater outfits adorned with political slogans and jokes meant to be read by motorists as she bicycled. The exhibition includes rectangular wallworks listing New Year's resolutions and advice from psychics, alongside pieces engaging with meme hashtags blending political commentary (#IraqtheNewIraq, #gazastrippers) with personal statements (#equaltotheloveyoumake, #freetobeme). A side gallery contains hypersharp photographic closeups of a shredded BDSM porn magazine found in an airport parking lot in 1989, exposing fragments of sexual imagery. Nearby, two women turned pages of 'American Megazine' (2013), a 150cm-tall publication documenting megachurches. The show explores themes of desire, sexuality as liberation, and critiques of commercialized spirituality through supersize religion and entrepreneurial mysticism. One tapestry declares in bold white letters: 'Bad Ideas Are Better Than No Ideas.' The exhibition was reviewed in ArtReview's December 2014 issue.