bio

bio

Meg Leary (b. 1978) is a Chicago-based performance, sound and visual artist. She began her career as an opera singer, which has since become the foundation for the visual and performative works she creates. Over the past decade, she has been developing a series of performances, videos, sculptures and compositions based on the public perception of the “diva.” These pieces examine issues of femininity, queerness, fatness and voicelessness.

Leary has an MA degree in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA degree in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She received her BA from Smith College and vocal training at The Boston Conservatory. Her work has been shown at a variety of venues including the Chicago Artists Coalition, Gallery 400, EXPO Chicago, ACRE Gallery, SOHO House, Chicago Artists Coalition, Subterranean, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, NADA, Elastic Arts, The Hideout, The Whistler, Mana Contemporary, Kendall College of Art & Design, Peanut Gallery, Links Hall, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and more. Leary is currently a 2017 resident of the HATCH program at the Chicago Artists Coalition.

photo by Johnny Knight