A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State at COOPER COLE

Artists: Timothy Yanick Hunter, Eileen Isagon Skyers, Eve Tagny, Qualeasha Wood, Curtia Wright

Exhibition title: A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beautiful Or Spiritual State

Curated by: Timothy Yanick Hunter

Venue: COOPER COLE, Toronto, Canada

Date: May 10 – June 8, 2019

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and COOPER COLE, Toronto

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 notion 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, Something I’ve Been Meaning To Send You, 2019, Video, acrylic sheet, 5:25 min

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eve Tagny, We Weight on the Land – Part 2 – Spring and Legacy, 2019, Video installation, 2 videos, Spring: 4:37 min; Legacy: 2:07 min

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eve Tagny, We Weight on the Land – Part 2 – Spring and Legacy, 2019, Video installation, 2 videos, Spring: 4:37 min; Legacy: 2:07 min

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eve Tagny, We Weight on the Land – Part 2 – Spring and Legacy, 2019, Video installation, 2 videos, Spring: 4:37 min; Legacy: 2:07 min

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eve Tagny, Alocasia stand, 2019, Clear Electrostatic vinyl, clay, stones, dried flowers, 12.5 x 21 in (31.8 x 53.3 cm)

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eve Tagny, nurture nurture nurture, 2019, Clear Electrostatic vinyl, clay, 10 x 15 in (25.4 x 38.1 cm)

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Timothy Yanick Hunter, Basic Instructions, 2019, Video, acrylic sheet, 5:15 min

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Qualeasha Wood, Test of Faith, 2019, Jacquard, sequins, durag, feathers, 74 x 51 in (188 x 129.5 cm)

Qualeasha Wood, Cult Following, 2019, Jacquard woven with glass seed beads, 51 x 74 in (129.5 x 188 cm)

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Curtia Wright, Held together by own gravity, 2019, Oil and acrylic on Organza fabric, 72 x 48 in (182.9 x 121.9 cm)

A Complete Change of Form Into A More Beau5ful Or Spiritual State, 2019, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Eileen Isagon Skyers, Songwriter, 2019, Video installation with opaque two white screens, translucent polarized lens filters and floating shelves, Dimensions variable