Michi Meko (born 1974) is an American multidisciplinary artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant and the Atlanta Artadia Award as well as a finalist for the 2019 Hudgens Prize. His work incorporates the visual language of naval flags and nautical wayfinding, combined with romanticized objects of the American South. Throughout his various platforms, his work engages contradictions and paradoxes that he uncovers through examining his personal history, African American folk traditions, and narratives that confront or circumvent established narratives.
In 2019, Meko was featured on Hulu streaming as an Artist in Residence.
Grants and awards 2019: The Hudgens Prize, finalist 2018: Working Artist Project, Museum of Contemporary Art, Georgia 2017: Atlanta Artadia Award 2017: Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant 2015: DashBoard Co-Op Residency Grant 2013: Wonderroot CSA Grant 2013: Flux Projects Grant 2011: Studio Artist in Residence, Atlanta Contemporary 2010: BeltLine Atlanta Grant 2010: Idea Capital Grant 2008: Forward Arts Foundation, finalist 2005: Forward Arts Foundation, finalist
Solo exhibitions
2025: So Black and So Blue, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia 2023: The Burden of Wait (with Jodi Hays), Susan Inglett Gallery, New York 2022: Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, Illinois 2020: Black and Blur, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, Atlanta, Georgia 2019: Out Here by Myself, Alan Avery Art Company, Atlanta, Ga 2019: When It's Black Outside, Chimento Contemporary, Los Angeles, Ca 2019: And Then There Was Sky, Sumter County Gallery of Art, Sumter, South Carolina 2018: It Doesn't Prepare You for Arrival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Georgia, Atlanta, Ga 2018: Like A Weird Sweet Spot, Westobou Gallery, Augusta, Ga 2017: One Last Smile Before the Undertow, Dodd Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga 2016: Circle of Rivers, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, Ga 2015: Pursuit: Almost Drowned, Alan Avery Art Company, Atlanta, Ga 2010: Navigating this American Landscape, Archetype Gallery, Atlanta, Ga 2009: Fear Kills Pursuit: A Mighty Roar and the Magic Inside, Beep Beep Gallery, Atlanta, Ga 2008: Comfort Kills Pursuit: Fight!!!, EyeDrum, Atlanta, Ga
Group exhibitions
2022: The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, Arkansas 2021: Realms of Refuge, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, Illinois 2021: The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Collections
High Museum of Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Georgia Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
References
External links