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Born on August 22, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Vicki (Victoria Susan) Meek is a nationally recognized, award winning American artist. She received her B.F.A. from the Tyler School of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and her M.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin in 1973. Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions and museums in the United States, most notably at: the World Expo '74, Spokane, Washington; the itinerant exhibition Forever Free: Art by African-American Women 1862-1980; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, and the Nasher Sculpture Center (2013-14). Meek was one of ten artists included in Nasher XChange, a public art exhibition celebrating the Nasher Sculpture Center's tenth anniversary. The Houston Museum of African American held a retrospective exhibition of her work in 2019-20, entitled Vicki Meek: 3 Decades of Social Commentary, which travelled to the Dallas African American Museum (2020-21). In 2022, she has been selected as the inaugural Nasher Fellow in Urban Historical Reclamation and Recognition and as an advisor on the subsequent Fellows.

Meek received several public art commissions in Dallas, Texas where she lives and works, including three commissions with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Art Program. She was further selected as a co-artist on the largest public art project in Dallas, namely the Dallas Convention Center Public Art Project.

The artist has received grants and awards including but not limited to: the National Endowment for the Arts NFRIG Grant; Texas Black Filmmakers Mission Award; the African American Museum at Dallas A. Maceo Smith Award for Cultural Achievement. The Art League of Houston awarded her the title of 2021 Texas Artist of the Year. In 2023, Vicki Meek received the Moss/Chumley Artist Award.

Meek was also a member of the National Conference of Artists and has taught sculpture, drawing, and printmaking at Kentucky State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). She is also a cultural critic at Dallas Weekly and has curated over 125 art shows.

Her work is part of several permanent public collections including the African American Museum, Dallas, Texas; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Serie Art Project in Austin, Texas; the Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, Connecticut; and Paul Quinn College. The artist is represented by Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

Early work
Her work, sometimes created from a variety of different materials including vacuum formed plastic, acrylic, latex, plexiglas, enamel and others, addresses socio-political concerns and more specifically violence in society. By experimenting with a wide range of media, the artist, as she explains in the exhibition catalog of Forever Free: Art by African-American Women 1862-1980, "I feel I minimize the risk of having my work lapse into monotony, a condition which could easily occur given the fairly rigid parameters I set for myself regarding issues to be interpreted." She often uses wall sculptures to deliver a direct message filled with political symbolism intended to educate people. "My work," Meek affirms, "is almost without exception motivated by the prevailing socio-political conditions that exist in my environment."

Set into a wooden frame, the multi-media assemblage ...And the Lynching of the 70's Comes in the Form of a Mighty Horse, one of a total of two works included in the above mentioned exhibition, exemplifies Meek's stylistic tendencies and thematic concerns. Her preoccupation with violence and the correlation between the man-made materials she uses and the man-made problems her images convey can also be seen in the second work was Black On Black Crime: The Violence Seems Endless..., a mixed media work from 1979.

Installations
Since the early 1980s, Meek’s work has evolved from mixed-media sculpture and wall pieces into installation as social practice. These mostly site-specific works which often involve sound-elements, draw inspiration from West-African iconography and spiritual practices to develop a visual language that connects ancestral African heritage to current political events in the United States.

Using a wide range of materials and elements to create her installations, Meek evokes themes such as racism, slavery, and police brutality while providing at the same time a public space for encounters, conversations, and healing. As a form of social commentary and advocacy for black culture, her artwork emphasizes the cultural relevance of the African people, their land, space, and spiritual power as a reminder of the lost cultural memories.

Solo Exhibitions (Selection)

 * At What Point Do I Disappear?, Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas, Texas, 2022.
 * Vicki Meek: The Journey to Me. 2021 Texas Artist of the Year exhibition at the Art League Houston, Houston, Texas (Sept. 10, 2021 - Feb. 5, 2022)
 * Three Decades of Social Commentary, Houston Museum of African American Culture, retrospective exhibition (2019-20), travelled to the African American Museum Dallas (2020-21).
 * Vulnerable, Transart Foundation, Houston, Texas, 2019-20.
 * The Gifts Arrive, Barnes Blackman Gallery, Houston Texas (Sept. 9 - Oct. 8, 1988).

Group Exhibitions (Selection)

 * Denton Black Film Festival, 2019.
 * Nasher XChange, presented by the Nasher Sculpture Center in celebration of their tenth anniversary, Dallas Texas (Oct. 19, 2013 - Feb. 16, 2014).
 * Round 31: Life Path 5: Action/Restlessness, curated by Vicki Meek, Project Row Houses, Houston, Texas, 2009-10.
 * Uncle Tom to Peeping Tom: Race and Gender Matters, curated by Evelyn Patricia Terry, Wisconsin African American Women’s Center, 2006 (cat.).
 * African American Art from the MFAH Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 2004.
 * Windows of the Soul, Series II. (Two-Person show), Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2002.
 * Private Identity and Public Conscience: Contemporary Works from the Museum’s Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.
 * Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (1994-95). Phoenix Triennial, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, 1993.
 * Counter Colón-ialismo, Centro de la Raza, San Diego, travelled to Mars Arspace, Phoenix, Arizona; Mexi-Arte Museum, Austin, Texas, 1992.
 * Forever Free: Art by African-American Women 1862-1980, curated by Jacqueline Fonvielle-Bontemps and visiting curator David C. Driskell. Center for the Visual Arts Gallery, Illinois State University (Jan. 30 - Feb. 22, 1981); Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska (March 14 - April 26, 1981); Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama (June 14 - July 26, 1981); Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina (Sept. 3 - October 11, 1981); The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland (Oct 29. - DEc. 3, 1981); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana (Jan. 18, 1981 - Feb. 15, 1982) (cat.).
 * Owensboro Museum of Art Invitational, Owensboro, Kentucky, 1977 (November).
 * Violence: Black Man's Burden I, Humanities Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin, 1977 (September).
 * Violence: Black Man's Burden II, Fine Arts Gallery, Lee College, Cleveland, Tennessee, 1977 (February).
 * Drawings on a Variety of Political Subjects, Jackson Hall Mini Gallery, Frankfort, Kentucky, 1977 (January).
 * Kentucky State Student/Faculty Exhibition, Jackson Hall Gallery, Frankfort, Kentucky, 1976 (September).
 * Kentucky Sculpture, Georgetown University Gallery, Georgetown, Kentucky, 1975 (October).
 * Kentucky State University Faculty Exhibition, Bob Thompson Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky, 1975 (April).
 * Mt. Sterling Annual Invitational Exhibition, Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, 1974 (November).
 * Expo '74, Spokane, Washington, October 1973 - September 1974.
 * Seminar on Black Artists, Gallery Towards A Black Aesthetics, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1973 (February).
 * Seven Black Artists, Union South Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin, 1972 (September).
 * Common Bond, Union South Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin, 1972 (March).

Awards, Grants, and Honors

 * National Endowment for the Arts NFRIG Grant.
 * Dallas Observer MasterMind Award.
 * Dallas Museum of Art Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant.
 * Texas Black Filmmakers Mission Award.
 * Women of Visionary Influence Mentor Award.
 * Dallas Women’s Foundation Maura Award.
 * Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (nominated).
 * African American Museum at Dallas A. Maceo Smith Award for Cultural Achievement.
 * 2021 Texas Artist of the Year, honor awarded by Art League of Houston.
 * Moss/Chumley Artist Award.
 * Nasher Fellow in Urban Historical Reclamation and Recognition and as an advisor on the subsequent Fellows.

Collections

 * African American Museum, Dallas, Texas.
 * The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.
 * Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 * Serie Project, Austin, Texas.
 * Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut.
 * Paul Quinn College, commissioned by Nasher XChange as part of Nasher Sculpture Center’s tenth anniversary.