A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State
Timothy Yanick Hunter,
Eileen Isagon Skyers, Eve Tagny, Qualeasha Wood
, Curtia Wright
May 10 - June 8, 2019
@
COOPER COLE
1134 Dupont Street,
Toronto, ON M6H 2A2, Canada
COOPER COLE is pleased to present A Complete Change Of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State, a group exhibition curated by Timothy Yanick Hunter. This exhibition continues the gallery's commitment to offering a platform for emerging curatorial practices. Participating artists include Timothy Yanick Hunter, Eileen Isagon Skyers, Eve Tagny, Qualeasha Wood, and Curtia Wright.
This exhibition is symbolic of the intersection between the digital plane and spiritual practice, both can be characterized by their ephemeral abstractness. A Complete Change Of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State investigates varying ideas surrounding identity, memory, and the transformation of self. Together these artists explore the phenomenon of technological convergence - in this case, a phenomenon where transcendental spaces and ritual meet digital space and practice. The term transfiguration is defined as a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state. The works in this exhibition navigate ideas within religion, spirituality, digital space, and the internet as technologies of self realization. How do concepts of memory & identity parallel each other? Each artist in A Complete Change Of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State identifies a step in this process by questioning the states of being to which we aspire, asking how much control do we have over our states of being, what ways they can be manufactured and manipulated, and what ways do we gain control.
"Convergence is a deep integration of knowledge, tools, and all relevant activities of human activity for a common goal, to allow society to answer new questions to change the respective physical or social ecosystem. Such changes in the respective ecosystem open new trends, pathways, and opportunities in the following divergent phase of the process" - Roco, 2002 [1], Bainbridge and Roco, 2016 [2]
“...The Internet is a place that fosters identity formation and self-authorship in a population that has traditionally been viewed as deficient in Internet use...As discussions on the digital divide transform from focusing on technical access to more societal concerns, the no=on of culture and identity becomes more substantial. As the digital divide continues to close, the potential for reducing the “cultural divide” continues to increase” - Hales, 2008, The African Diaspora, Racial Identity, and The Evolving Discourse of the Digital Divide.
Timothy Yanick Hunter (b. 1990, Toronto, Canada) is a multidisciplinary artist and curator. After graduating from the University of Toronto in 2015 with a degree in Art History and English, his practice explores varying concepts surrounding digital security, identity - both digital and lived, narratives of hierarchical power-structures and how these ideas intersect with notions of Blackness and the greater African Diaspora. His approach alternates between exploratory and didactic. At times Hunter defines his process as experiments in visual language, where the mediums represent a range of languages and individual works express different stories. His work ranges from painting, sculpture, video, performance and installation. August 2018 Hunter debuted his first curatorial project Terms And Conditions - a group exhibit exploring information technology and the culture of mass surveillance. Currently Hunter is exhibiting overseeing programming at the Whippersnapper Gallery for its 2018-19 season alongside fellow members of Black Artist Union Collective. Timothy Yanick Hunter lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
Eileen Isagon Skyers (b. 1991, Manila, Philippines) holds a BFA from University of South Florida, and a MFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art, USA. Her work has been shown at Williamson Knight, Litman Gallery, Surplus Space, Portland; and Quiad Gallery, William and Nancy Oliver Gallery, Tampa, USA. Skyers’ has curated exhibitions at American Medium, HOUSING, New York; Digital Gallery, Hap Gallery, Portland; and Unit 19, Tampa, USA. Eileen Isagon Skyers lives and works in Brooklyn, USA.
Eve Tagny (b. 1986, Montreal, Canada) holds a BFA in film productin/documentary from Concordia University. Her work has been shown at Xpace Cultural Centre, Critical Distance, VTape, Toronto; Never Apart, FOFA Gallery, Montreal, Canada; nGbk, Kleiner Salon, Berlin, Germany; WISHLESS Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; and Two by Two Art Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa and has an upcoming exhibition at Gallery 44, Toronto, Canada. Eve Tangy lives and works in Montreal, Canada.
Qualeasha Wood (b. 1996, Long Branch, USA) holds a BFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA. Her work spans from printmaking, tex=le works, and digital media and suggests realities and narratives surrounding black female bodies as they existed, and currently exist, as well as proposing potential futures in which they may exist. Through creating new narratives of black potential, Wood’s work creates dialogues across time in different historical contexts and settings. It is not about imagining an alternate reality but proposing a new perspective on an existing narrative that is just as real as the standardized Eurocentric view. She has exhibited at Rhode Island School of Design, Woods Gerry Gallery, RISD Exposé Gallery, and Benson Hall Gallery, Providence; New Image Art, Los Angeles, USA. In fall 2019 Wood will commence a MFA in photography at Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art. Qualeasha Wood lives and works in Providence, USA.
CurJa Wright (b. 1991, Scarborough, Canada) is a multi-disciplinary artist and mural artist. She holds a BFA from OCAD University. Wright’s work concerns the way societies perceptions of bodies, specifically black bodies, have the ability to shape their narratives without consent. Her current works delve into the spiritual and mental wellness of African peoples and the link to mythology and disseminating what ‘fantasy’ is and who it belongs to. She has exhibited at Margin of Eras Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, 918 Bathurst, White House Gallery, Younger than Beyonce, Toronto; Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, Canada; and Arts Dimensions Gallery, St. Louis, USA. Curtia Wright lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
