22 April - 31 May 2025

Chicago

Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to present Under the Flickering Light of the North Star, the gallery’s inaugural solo exhibition with Atlanta-based artist Michi Meko. On paper and canvas, his work layers tactile materials as narrative elements, taking the viewer from moments of stillness to bursts of action that explores the artist's contemplations on the legacies of critical geographies, particularly those of the American South. 

Through his abstract landscape paintings, Meko guides audiences into the quiet anxieties of terrains that conjure ecological histories as wisdom. His brushstrokes map the dichotomies of rebellion and reflection through the contrasting use of a an imposing and often monumental dimly lit dusk, and the application of phosphorescent light and textural details that pop up from the canvas, as if offering a mediative look at the inherent tensions within landscapes. 

Meko’s cartographic perspective, shaped by geographic storytelling, reveals the ecological memory embedded in the land, which informs and shapes his studio practice. His rebellious mark-making creates layered narratives of fugitivity and survival, where the American landscape serves as both a backdrop and a starting point for his examination of race, place, and memory.  By limiting himself to five core materials, Meko forges a cohesive yet evolving dialogue that resounds Southern ingenuity to build density from minimalism. This constraint foregrounds the thesis of freedom and conflict between humans and nature, inviting the viewer to uncover oppositional textures and connections between the acrylic, aerosol, oil pastel, colored pencil, and gold leaf in each piece. 

Meko’s material rolodex captures the speed and immediacy of his gestures.  His proficiency in layering—overlaying materials that shift chemistries and reveal new textures and hues—enables the emergence of new forms based on the chronology of each layer.  

The navigational syntax within You Good? Signal fire., 2024 is signature structure within Meko’s compositions. Drawing from the tradition of signal fires—used historically for urgent long-distance communication—Meko imbues these symbols with contemporary resonance. His marks are at once pragmatic and intuitive, building immense perceptual depth upon paper and canvas. These works invite introspection on the duality of the natural world, where the stillness of night awakens the horrors and histories that have shaped the land. Through these layers Meko builds upon an intergenerational vision, rooted in both contemporary and ancestral practices of escape and perseverance.  

Michi Meko will open a solo exhibition at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art this August in Savannah, Georgia. Under the Flickering Light of the North Star will open on April 22 and continue through May 31, 2025. 

Image: Michi Meko, The Big Mental Pause, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim.