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1. Second Petal | Nov 16th, 2024
PRESS
Opening November 16th, TOSSAROSE presents its second “petal” show: Metempsychosis, a pop-up gallery show featuring nine emerging Chicago-based artists. The show features 8 paintings, 2 sculptures, 2 site-specific installations, and 3 performances/ documentation, all located at the former church in Bridgeport at 643 West 31st Street, Chicago, IL.
The namesake of the show Metempsychosis is the belief that at death, the soul passes into another body. Hereby, the soul is immortal, and a cycle of reincarnation and death in the transition from one body to another is the fate of all men ad nauseam. Its definition can be restricted further: “The place where the soul and its new body dwell must be, at least in part, this world; the new body must be acquired for more than a temporary period; and the soul, which passes from one body to another, must be that which creates an individual.” Given that the show location takes place in a former church repurposed as an art space prior to its demolition, the action of the show itself is the death throw directly before the spirit of the space, and thereby, the show transitions onwards into another form. The show is a place of mourning and celebration for the impending loss of the space and the effect of the works. The aforementioned works reflect upon a plethora of issues and ideas: apprehension and loss of memory, transfiguration, the dialectic of the dead and living, the nature of consciousness, etc. All of which are footnoted and strung together in their reflection of one state of being, oftentimes in favor of another.
Featured Artists: Elijah Lee Ross, Harry Lee, Calvin Guo, Zeynep Karahasan, William Wang, Taylor Ekern, Koki Kin, Pruthvish Dangat, and Alexander Breus