Meg Onli

Meg Onli
Born	(1983-12-12) December 12, 1983 (age 40)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA) Courtauld Institute of Art (MA)
Occupation(s)	curator, writer

Meg Onli (born December 12, 1983) is an African-American art curator and writer. She is currently the Andrea B. Laporte Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1][2][3] Her curatorial work primarily revolves around the black experience, language, and constructions of power and space.^[4] Her writing has been published in Art21, Daily Serving, and Art Papers.^[5][6] In September 2022, it was announced that Onli would co-curate the 2024 Whitney Biennial with Chrissie Iles.^[7]

Education

Meg Onli, was born on December 12, 1983, and raised in Los Angeles, California.^[8] She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in photography and a minor in Art History at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008.^[9] She later participated in the AICA Art Writing Workshop in 2012^[10] and received her master's degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2014.^[11]

Early work

From 2006 to 2010, Onli was the associate producer of the Chicago-based art and culture podcast and blog "Bad at Sports," an online blog and podcast where writers and artists discuss different contemporary artists, exhibitions, and artworks that shape the present and future of art.^[12][13][14]

In 2010, Onli founded the "Black Visual Archive" which was a collection of online documents and reviews of contemporary black and post-black visual culture based in Chicago, IL.^[15] The archive consisted of articles, reviews, and interviews that surveyed the works of Chicago-based artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Theaster Gates, etc., and hosted a collection of writings that discussed the work of black artists and cultural workers throughout history.^[16]

Onli later served as the Program Coordinator at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts located in Chicago, IL.^[17][18] At the Graham Foundation, she assisted in the showcasing of the “Architecture of Independence: African Modernism” at the Graham Foundation space. Originated by the Vitra Design Museum and curated by Manuel Herz, "Architecture of Independence: African Modernism” was an exploration of the complex history and legacy of modernist architecture in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1960s and 1970s.^[19] At the Graham Foundation, Onli also assisted in the showcasing of the first “Barbara Kasten: Stages” project installation (2016-2017). Originated and curated by Curator Alex Klein, the “Barbara Kasten: Stages” project exhibition showcased Barbara Kasten's five-decade engagement with abstraction, light, and architectural form.^[20]

Current work and contributions to Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art

Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia

Onli is currently serving as Andrea B. Laporte Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. She is the first black woman to serve as curator at Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art. Exhibitions she curated include “Speech/Acts” (2017) and all three chapters of “Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019).^[21]

“Speech/Acts” (2017)

“Speech/Acts” (2017) was an exhibition program series that explored how the social and cultural constructs of language have shaped black experiences.^[22][23] Consisting of poetry and visual works, the exhibit showcased new and recent artworks from emerging artists Jibade-Khalil Hu man, Steffani Jemison, Tony Lewis, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Martine Syms. “Speech/Acts” (2017) also hosted special programs and reading room spotlighting writings of poets Claudia Rankine, Morgan Parker, and Simone White, among others.^[24] The Speech/Acts reading group met over six Saturday afternoons in the fall discussing listed syllabus texts and exploring what the writings illuminated and provoked. In addition to the exhibition, a fully illustrated catalog, co-published with Futurepoem, was released featuring reprints of seminal texts by Fred Moten and Harryette Mullen, newly commissioned poetry by Morgan Parker and Simone White, and an essay by Meg Onli.^[25][26]

“Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019)

“Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents” (2019) was a three-chapter series that explored the impact of colonialism and slavery on blackness in the past, present and the future.^[27][28][29] The series of exhibitions featured works by Martine Syms, Cameron Rowland, Carolyn Lazard, Sable Elyse Smith, Kevin Jerome Everson, Dave McKenzie, Aria Dean, Matthew Angelo Harrison, with historical texts from the Black Panther Party, Sutton E. Griggs, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.^[30][31]

“Colored People Time” (2019) was staged in three consecutive exhibitions. The first installment titled “Mundane Futures” featuring installations by Martine Syms whose work focused the subject of black futures as one inevitably tied the past of slavery and colonialism.^[32][33] In the second presentation, “Quotidian Pasts,” artist Matthew Angelo Harrison collaborated with both the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Monique Renee Scott, a specialist in the display of artifacts from the African diaspora, to stage an exhibition addressing the complexities of collecting and displaying objects acquired by way of colonialism.^[34][35] The final exhibition, “Banal Presents,” showcased the work of Sable Elyse Smith, Cameron Rowland, and Carolyn Lazard, interpreting how the ideas from the previous two installations exist within the present moment. A publication features written responses to the exhibition, along with a republishing of Syms’ Manifesto.^{[36][37][38][39]}

Recognition

Onli has received the following fellowships and awards:

• Art Writers Grant from the Creative Capital and Warhol Foundation (2013)^[40][41][42]
• Graham Foundation Individual Research Grant from the Graham Foundation (2014)^[43][44]
• Transformation Award from the Leeway Foundation (2018)^[45]
• Curatorial Fellowship from the Warhol Foundation (2018)^[46]
• Figure Skating Prize (2021)^[47]

References

1. ARTnews, The Editors of (2020-12-01). "Who Will Shape the Art World in 2021?: ARTnews Presents 'The Deciders'". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
2. "Meg Onli". CCS Bard. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
3. "Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art Promotes Meg Onli to Associate Curator". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
4. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
5. "Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant". www.artswriters.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
6. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
7. Greenberger, Alex (2022-09-29). "Closely Watched Curators Chrissie Iles, Meg Onli to Organize 2024 Whitney Biennial". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
8. Nash, Suzi (2016-12-22). "Meg Onli: Art, activism and their intersection". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
9. "Graduate Photo Catalogue 2016 | SAIC Digital Collections". digitalcollections.saic.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
10. "Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant". www.artswriters.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
11. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
12. "Bad at Sports | Contemporay art talk without the ego". Retrieved 2021-03-15.
13. "Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant". www.artswriters.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
14. Erikson, Beth (2017-10-09). "12 Top Art Podcasts to Add to Your List". Artists Network. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
15. "Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant". www.artswriters.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
16. "Meg Onli - Grantees - Arts Writers Grant". www.artswriters.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
17. "Meg Onli LTA '18". Leeway Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
18. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
19. "African Modernism - Architecture of Independence, Manuel Herz Architects". www.manuelherz.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
20. "Graham Foundation > Exhibitions > Barbara Kasten: Stages". www.grahamfoundation.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
21. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
22. ARTnews, The Editors of (2020-12-01). "Who Will Shape the Art World in 2021?: ARTnews Presents 'The Deciders'". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
23. "Meg Onli LTA '18". Leeway Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
24. "Speech/Acts - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
25. Onli, Meg. Speech/acts First edition. New York, NY ;: Futurepoem Books, 2017.
26. "Speech/Acts". Wall Street International. 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
27. "Colored People Time - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
28. Copeland, Huey. "Huey Copeland in conversation with Meg Onli". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
29. "Curator Meg Onli Considers the Potential of Black Futures with a Trilogy-based Exhibition". Cultured Magazine. 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
30. Onli, Meg; Johnson, Amber Rose (Editor); McInerney, John (Foreword by); Dean, Aria Dean (Text by); Ewing, Eve L. (Text by) (2020). Colored People Time. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Institute of Contemporary ArtG, University of Pennsylvania. ISBN 9780884541493. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
31. "Colored People Time: Mundane Futures - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
32. "The Institute of Contemporary Art at Penn ponders comforts of the bland". WHYY. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
33. "Colored People Time: Mundane Futures - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
34. Malone, Devin (2019-07-09). "Colored People Time: Quotidian Pasts". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
35. "Colored People Time: Quotidian Pasts - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
36. Reid, Tiana. Art in America. Jan2020, Vol. 108 Issue 1, p82-83. 2p. 1 Color Photograph. ISSN 0004-3214.
37. "Colored People Time: Banal Presents - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
38. jvolpe (2018-06-18). "Colored People Time: Mundane Futures, Quotidian Pasts, and Banal Presents - GRANT". The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
39. Reid, Tiana (2019-12-19). "In "Banal Presents," Three Black Artists Intervene in Vast Social Institutions, from the Prison System to Education". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
40. Art in America. Feb2013, Vol. 101 Issue 2, p120-120. 1/8p. ISSN 0004-3214.
41. "Meg Onli". CCS Bard. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
42. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
43. "Meg Onli". CCS Bard. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
44. "Meg Onli - ICA Philadelphia". Institute of Contemporary Art - Philadelphia, PA. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
45. "Meg Onli LTA '18". Leeway Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
46. "January 2019 – The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts". Retrieved 2021-03-15.
47. "Curator Meg Onli wins inaugural prize aimed at advancing racial equity in the arts". The Art Newspaper. April 26, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.