AIR MAIL | The Alchemists

With roots in medieval mysticism and magic, alchemy is a process intended to transform a common material into something precious, for instance, metal into gold, or a mix of ingredients into an elixir of immortality. "The Alchemists," the first show at the newly rebranded Johnson Lowe Gallery, has the same aspiration.

Using an array of mediums and materials, from paintings to installations, the 29 featured artists transmute their own stories into expressions of the Black experience. At once an interrogation of what it means to be Black and a celebration of the Black self, the exhibition embodies the philosophy of alchemy in another crucial way: it immortalizes Black stories, traditions, and realities.

-P.P.