Artwork Statement:

A Rhythmistic narrative painting done at the peak of our terror and uncertainty of the COVID crises. "Walking in the valley of death, she fears no one for she wears the mask."

Artist Bio:

“My visual arts practice has never been a tribute to oppression or suffering. Instead, it has been about expanding genres and establishing movements, establishing paradigms along with a path laced with creativity, culture, content & commerce. Notably Rhythmism and The Black Age of Comics.”

Goal: “I am looking for appropriate opportunities for my collections of Rhythmistic Fine Art.”

Onli is a creative artist whose career has touched upon a variety of disciplines in fine and applied visual art. He has been an art therapist, educator, and illustrator. He has also distinguished himself in painting, drawing, illustration, publishing, fashion, and multimedia production. This includes an extensive exhibition and publication record. He is known for having coined the term Rhythmistic in the 1970s to interpret his stylizations which fuse primitive and futuristic concepts.

He has work in the collections of The Cool Globes Public Art Exhibition, The Chicago Children’s Museum, The DuSable Museum, The Johnson Publishing Company, the estates of Miles Davis and Alice Coltrane, along with freelance illustrations for the Rolling Stones, McDonalds, Motown, MODE Avant Garde Magazine, the Paris Metro Magazine, and Holt, Rinehart, & Winston to name a few.

He has received many awards including:

The 2020 Jackman Goldwasser Residency, A 2006 Life Time Achievement Award from Temple University, Honorable Mention in the Salon Show at the Munster Center for Visual and Performing Art and the Prix Arts Electronica, a 1978 Laureat in the Concours des Dessin with the Foyer Internationale Accueil de Paris, A Citation from the National Conference of Artists in 1974.

In Summer / Fall of 2021 his mural-sized version of the Rhythmistic character “NOG: The Nubian of Greatness / Protector of the Pyramides”, ( circa 1980 ), is on the outer wall of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago to promote the landmark blockbuster group exhibition, “Chicago Comics: 1960 until Now!”

He was a regular participant in the School of the Art Institute’s annual Alumni Association’s fundraiser, “Bare Walls!"

Onli was a regular Visiting Artist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.