BIO
Tonya Gregg was born and raised in South Carolina. She received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1997. It was at MICA that Gregg began her career as a painter and became the first full-time art student to be featured in New American Paintings. Gregg worked at the Baltimore Museum of Art for a year before moving to Chicago to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Chicago from 1998 to 2000. She has worked in various art programs and taught college for several years. Gregg has exhibited in the U.S., Germany, Nicaragua, England and Canada. Her solo exhibitions include Columbia College, Gallery 1448, the Lawndale Art Center and Ithaca College. She has been an artist in residence at the Millay Colony in Austerlitz, New York, Red Gate in Beijing, China, the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada and the Wollmagazin in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Gregg’s narrative paintings explore overlapping ideas about class, consumption, popular culture and ancient mythologies.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Her Own Majesty, Goodall Gallery, Columbia College, SC
2017 GIRL.MOUNTAIN.SEA., Peachan Gallery, Christiansted, US Virgin Islands
After Midnight In The Dynasty, The Southern Gallery, Charleston, SC
2016 A Good Read In The Dynasty, Curtis R. Harley Gallery, USC UPSTATE, Spartanburg, SC
2012 From Satchel To Handbag, Gallery 1448, Baltimore, MD
2010 Close Fitting, Red Bluff Gallery, Red Bluff, CA
2009 New Work, Creative Art Exchange, Charlotte, NC
2008 High Tea, Community Flat Space, London, United Kingdom
2006 Adventures in Ladyhood, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC
2005 Tonya Gregg: Exuberant Boom, Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2004 New Work, Lewis and Clark Gallery, Columbia, SC
2003 The Elusive Quest of Freedom, Lawndale Art Center, Mezzanine Gallery, Houston, TX
2001 Super Bodies of Leisure, Aiken Center for the Arts Gallery, Aiken, SC
2000 Look Here World, USC Performing Arts Center Gallery, Beaufort, SC
Things Fall Apart, Lorado Taft House Gallery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1998 Town and Country, Liriodendron Museum, Bel Air, MD
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 22 South Carolinians, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
2017 Inestimable Impact: Educators As Artists, Knight Gallery, Spirit Square, Charlotte, NC
2015 Independent Spirits: Women Artists of South Carolina, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
701 CCA South Carolina Biennial, 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC
Art Fields Art Festival, Joe's Barbershop, Lake City, SC
2014 New Faces, Upstairs Artspace, Tryon, NC
Body & Soul, Weizenblatt Gallery, Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, NC
volumes 2: women bound by art, Curtis R. Harley Gallery, University of South Carolina, Spartanburg, SC
2013 Art Fields Art Festival, Joe's Barbershop, Lake City, SC
Zoological Society, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
2012 701 CCA Prize 2012 Exhibition, 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC
Columbia/Kaiserslautern: The International Mural Project, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
2011 In Search Of..., The Philosopher's Knoll Gallery, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Critical Culture: Remembering Romare Bearden, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC Rudimentary: A Post-Mastery Return to Fundamentals, University of Maryland, Adelphi, MD
2010 Small Works, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2009 Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Tener Valor II, Rosenberg Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Tener Valor I, Casa De Cultura, Esteli, Nicaragua
2008 Red State Blues, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
2007 Artists In Community: A Personal Journey, Rosenberg Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Acting Up/Acting Out: MICA Women Perform, Fox Bldg Galleries, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2006 Girl Stories, Dalton Gallery, Center for the Arts, Rock Hill, SC
Extension, Gallery 5, Rock Hill, SC
2004 Little Size, VolksBank, Kaiserslautern, Bundesland, Germany
Mixed Perspectives, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
2003 Uncharted Waters, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
Sisters on the Horizon- Emerging African American Women Artist, South Dallas Cultural Center, TX
2002 Changing Times Changing Views, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
Exhibit Travelled To: Lucy Craft Laney Museum, Augusta, GA,
Sumter Opera House Museum, Sumter, SC
Burroughs & Chapin Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC
Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
Governor's School for the Arts Gallery, Greenville, SC
Rotation, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
Lines Drawn, Tyrone Geter & Tonya Gregg, Goodall Gallery, Columbia College, Columbia, SC
A Celebration of African American Art, Elder Art Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2001 Bound Together By Common Threads, Penn Center, York W. Bailey Museum, St. Helena Island, SC
Altered Hearts, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
Diversity, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
Fuse, Alta Vista, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
Feivre, Gallery 291, Greenville, SC
2000 Vista Lights, Gallery 80808, Columbia, SC
Big Ones, Little Ones and In Between Ones, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
COLOR: The Chicago Black Fine Art Expo, Hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
Altercations, Gallery 312, Chicago, IL
1998 America Oh Yes, Washington Design Center, Washington, DC
RESIDENCIES
2015 Millay Colony For The Arts, Austerlitz, NY
2013 Red Gate Residency, Beijing, China
2011 The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada
701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC
The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA
2010 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2009 Art of Solidarity, Cultural Exchange Program, Esteli & Limay, Nicaragua
2007 Community Arts, Village Learning Place, Baltimore, MD
2004 Wollmagazin Studio Exchange Program, Kaiserslautern, Bundesland, Germany
2003 Faculty Resource Network, Scholar In Residence, New York University, New York, NY
VISITING ARTIST LECTURES
2022 Take A Seat: Visual Artists’ Panel, Morris Heritage Center, Ridgeland, SC
2015 Independent Spirits, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
Sophomore Seminar II, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
2014 I Woke Up Like This, Seven Oaks Art League, Columbia, SC
2013 Artists Talks, Bei Gao Studios, Beijing, China
2012 701 CCA Prize 2012 Finalist Gallery Talk, 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC
2011 Self-Directed Residency Artist Talk, The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Social Equity, Art and Sustainability, Moderated by Kweisi Mfume, Central Enoch Pratt Library,
Baltimore, MD (panelist)
2010 Poetics, Beth Cryor Gallery, Coppin State University, Baltimore, MD (panelist)
20x20 Series, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2009 A New Little Universe, Creative Art Exchange, Charlotte, NC
2008 Art In America, Stoke Newington Media Arts College, London, United Kingdom
2007 Finishing Strong, Moving On: Making the Most of Your Student's Junior and Senior Year, MICA,
Baltimore, MD (panelist)
2005 Developing a Fine Artist Career, MICA, Baltimore, MD (panelist)
Diversity: Multiculturalism and Contemporary Art, MICA, Baltimore, MD (panelist)
Decoding Public and Private Identity, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Post MFA Works, Depaul University, Chicago, IL
Beyond Now, Colloquium Series, Claflin College, Orangeburg, SC
Exuberant Boom, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2004 The Nature of African American Art, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Mixed Perspectives, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC
The Art of Kerry James Marshall, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Diversity in the Arts, Leadership Columbia Arts & Culture Day, Ed-venture Children's Museum, Columbia, SC
2003 The Elusive Quest of Freedom, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2002 Hot Spots, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
PUBLIC WORKS
2009 Esculpiendo Nuestra Historia: Limay, Casa De Culture Community Mural, Limay, Nicaragua
David Alfaro Sequeiros Muralist Collective Mural, Leonel Rugama Cultural Center, Esteli, Nicaragua
Augusto Sandino Mural Festival Banner, National Liberation Day: 1979 Revolution, Esteli, Nicaragua
1999 Historic Rosenwald School Mural, Penn Center, St. Helena Island, SC
1996 Hip-Hoppers Stage Mural, Historic Lexington Market, Baltimore, MD
EDUCATION
2007 M.A. Community Arts Maryland Institute College of Art
2000 M.F.A . Painting University of Chicago
1997 B.F.A. Painting Maryland Institute College of Art
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have always been fascinated with glamour magazines, comic books, traditional African motifs and narrative historical paintings. These are the main sources of inspiration for my episodic paintings that comment on race, class, sexuality, and consumption among women of color. The personal and social narratives depict women navigating the shifting cultural influences and paradoxical worlds of contemporary life in their endeavor to embrace their own personhood. Broad themes that weave in and out of my work include women's ideals of beauty and various social perceptions of public versus private spaces, popular culture, ancient mythology and fantasy.
My canvases feature women dressed in carefully coordinated fashions lounging in alluring and iconic poses while presenting themselves in a manner that is hyper aware of the gaze of the world that is focused upon them. They are often surrounded by objects of desire that display their eclectic tastes and interests. These women are on a personal quest to find a balance in life between sensual pleasures and intellectual and spiritual pursuits. Wide-eyed cherub-like fairies with Afro hair float through the scenes seeking to capture the attention of the women and the viewer. They serve as celestial messengers, and at times, impish pests with an omniscient view of the women's situations as well as a pragmatic plan aimed at reinforcing the subject's authenticity. The cherubs' wisdom suggests finding a version of the good life that can both integrate and transcend the material trappings. The colors, shapes and patterns of these objects of desire unify the compositions while forwarding the narratives.
I paint on linen because of its symbolic and historical associations with Egyptian royalty attire, as well as its connection with Dutch masters' painting surfaces. The muted warm gray of the linen surface allows the saturated colors of the women's bodies, fashions and accoutrements to express the vibrancy of their many-sided worlds. Ultimately, the elements are integrated and contrasted with one another to allow complex and often oppositional ideas about the characters and the environments they inhabit.