Ehrlich Steinberg is pleased to present L-għajn, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles–based artist Jeffrey Stuker,
comprising a new moving image work, two works on paper, and a limited edition publication.
The exhibition centers on Stuker’s new film, L-għajn, his most ambitious and expansive work to date. Developed
over an extended period living and working in Malta, the film brings together strands of historical, scientific,
technological, and autobiographical research that have occupied the artist’s practice for more than a decade.
L-għajn extends Stuker’s research into the history of the simulated image—its earliest hardware, the development
of the algorithms that made it possible, and its anticipation in mytho-religious practices predating technological
modernity.
The film combines footage recorded on the island with 3D animation, exploring the actuality of simulated
phenomena alongside the allegorical resonance of documentary filmmaking. It begins with the microelectronic
circuitry of the NV1, the first processor manufactured by the American technology company Nvidia Corporation,
which was fabricated at the ST semiconductor factory in a southern village in Malta. Before settling on the name
Nvidia, NV1 was used as shorthand for “next version.” As meaning thickened around the phonetic pronunciation
of this abbreviation, the company became Nvidia, a fusion of those initials with invidia, the Latin term for envy
and an expression for casting the evil eye.
Stuker follows these linguistic associations towards l-għajn—the Maltese term for evil eye—and the overlapping
traditions and practices that have developed around it across the Mediterranean. The film traces the correspondence
between the processor’s manufacture in Malta and Nvidia’s logo: an eye-shaped design recalling invidia within a
culture known for its dense concentration of evil eye motifs, protections, and practices.
The piece moves outward from the microscopic architecture of the processor and the industrial site of its
manufacture to the changing landscape and built environment surrounding the factory, tracing traditions and
practices associated with l-għajn from the neighbouring villages to the wider southern Mediterranean region.
Among these are the stone eyes carved into the fortress walls surrounding Valletta’s Grand Harbour, their spiral
irises bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Nvidia logo.
Presented alongside the film are two works on paper, for which Stuker draws in pencil over printed 3D-rendered
images generated from models based on genetic sequencing data processed using Nvidia’s machine-learning
codebase. The data originates from a laboratory study of the “startle-first hypothesis,” an evolutionary theory
proposing that mimetic insects develop eye-like markings from earlier forms of camouflage and startling behaviour.
The species depicted, Deroplatys desiccata, has itself evolved an eyespot bearing a disconcerting resemblance to
the Nvidia logo—the same disembodied eye of invidia invoked throughout the film.
The exhibition is accompanied by L-għajn, a limited-edition signed publication of 100 copies, comprising a newly
commissioned essay and photographs by Stuker, produced through his research in Malta.
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Jeffrey Stuker (b. 1979; Fort Collins, CO) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Stuker received his MFA from
Yale University, New Haven in 2005 and is currently a PhD candidate at University of California San Diego.
Previous exhibitions include Almost Like at Ochi, Ketchum, ID (2026); Otium Perambulans in Tenebris at Gauli
Zitter, Brussels, BE (2026); Parloir Milan with Gauli Zitter, Milan, IT (2025); The Hothouse at The Todd Madigan
Gallery, CSU Bakersfield, Bakersfield, CA (2025); From A Defoliated Monograph at Ehrlich Steinberg, Los
Angeles, CA (2024); Mantis te Vidit at Studioli, Rome, IT (2024); Pacific Standard Time at the Getty Museum/
University of California, San Diego, CA (2024); Atavism for the Future at Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles, CA
(2023); Next Year in Monte Carlo at Ben Hunter, London, UK; Solid Projections at Larder, Los Angeles, CA
(2023); Objects of Desire at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2022); The International
Biennial of Contemporary Photography at MOMuS, Thessaloniki Greece (2021) and Made in L.A. at the Hammer
Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2020). He has written for art publications including Artforum, Los Angeles Review
of Books, Mousse, Bricks from the Kiln, Art Handler, The White Review and Effects, where he also serves as a
co-editor.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. 3D animation, live action, color, sound, 1.33:1. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP, 23 minutes.
Installation view. L-għajn by Jeffrey Stuker, 2026.
Installation view. L-għajn by Jeffrey Stuker, 2026.
Jeffrey Stuker, Deroplatys desiccata, Female, Right Tegmen, 2024. Pigment print and graphite on paper, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) framed.
Jeffrey Stuker, Deroplatys desiccata, Female, Right Tegmen (with Eyespot), 2024. Pigment print and graphite on paper, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) framed.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. Artist’s book, 29 pages, signed edition of 100.
Jeffrey Stuker, L-għajn, 2026. Artist’s book, 29 pages, signed edition of 100.
Photos: Evan Walsh