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Afro Futuristic visual art is born of Rhythmism! Onli's Future-Primitif works have been shown to positive acclaim with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Cool Globes, The Tubman Museum, New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY, The Krannert Museum, The DuSable Museum of Black History, The Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago Children's Museum, & The FIAP in Paris. Educators, enthusiasts, collectors, curators, collectors, & critics are.. WELCOME!
"NOG Emerges" 2021 Copyright 2021 Turtel Onli

Inspired by "NOG" being the Future-Primitif face of the blockbuster group exhibition at the change making, trend setting Museum of Contemporary Art, Summer / Fall 2021 called "Chicago Comics: 1960 Until Now", curated by Dan Nadel. . NOG was mural sized on the MCA's outer wall near the door to its Museum Store which featured NOG merchandise in the form of a Tote Bag, post cards, a ever-cool NOG Sketch Book, plus autographed copies of "Tales From The Rhyhthmic Zone", the Graphic Novel that includes expanded versions of the original NOG stories. So Rhythmistic!
Friday, July 22, 2022
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Monday, July 4, 2022
The trending of "Afrofuturism" has given a lot of folks a path to finally appreciate what Onli has been doing since the early 1970s in Art Therapy, Art Education, Creative Community Building, Illustration, Fine Art, Murals and Graphic Novels.

Prof. Onli is a vintage visual Rhythmistic Future-Primitif artist whose practice embraces digital and video productions, stage and film along with music and indie Graphic Novels publishing.
Onli is an advocate of the melding of creativity, culture & commerce.
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Thursday, June 16, 2022
- Kujichagulia (Self-determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.)
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
ONLI STUDIOS LLC publishes outstanding limited-edition indie Graphic Novels produces highly valued, museum quality, Rhythmistic Fine Art and creative events.
This coming Juneteenth, 2022 Weekend we will be in two signings per our Rhythmistic Characters & Graphic Novels. They will be introducing it free-to-fans over-sized Trading Cards designed & illustrated by ONLI STUDIOS' hot nu artiste, Johnathan Ford.
Monday, May 30, 2022
CHICAGO- Juneteenth, June 19th, 2022, from Noon until closing, the Trading Post Museum Shop of the DuSable Museum of Black History will be hosting a special Graphic Novels' and Trading Cards' Signing featuring the "Father of the Black Age of Comics", Prof. Turtel Onli.
Added guest will be Johnathan Ford, the dynamic illustrator per the ONLI STUDIOS' "Nu Look" over-sized, limited-edition highly valued trading cards.
ONLI STUDIOS LLC provides its fans readers, customers, and collectors with free, over-sized, limited edition Trading Cards of its Rhythmistic characters to express its appreciation for the independently minded support these enthusiasts demonstrate.
This bold move to buy and embrace fresh, expansive creative characters that are robustly independent of the predictable orthodoxy of the mainstream is worthy of encouragement.
The mainstream's trading-cards are often less than half the size of the ones from ONLI STUDIOS and usually are not free!
Ford will be there signing the release of these cool hot cards for fans, collectors and lovers of art & history.
Prof. Onli is called the "Father of the Black Age" for coining the term, The "Black Age of Comics" as an affirming genre that celebrates material, concepts and creators derived from the Black, Urban, African and Alternative experience in 1993. Plus, ONLI STUDIOS produced the world's first open source, indie Black Age Comic-Con
in 1993. It was the first event of its type. Since then, many have scaffolded on the ONLI STUDIOS model.
Due to COVID considerations this event is now an annual virtual production and has been rebranded, "Black Sankofa"!
FACT CHECK: The ONLI STUDIOS event is the first of its kind to be open to all folks, Black, White, Brown, Gay, Queer, Bi, Disabled, and Hot.
This started in 1993 at a time when the mainstream comics world would never do such a thing and the current rash of imitators would not have been that bold and resourceful to expand the industry with both a radical new genre and a model event for those to learn and be safe in exploring and sharing of themselves.
Friday, May 20, 2022
Then as now, their thesis of "Black Art" was often a nexus of poor to limited technique and skill. With the subject manner derived from traumatic episodes of Black and African suffering from slavery, exploitation, or colonialization. Plus add images of selected Black or African historical figures or personalities. They valued a lack of skill as being more authentic. More powerful?
Thus, really "Blacker"! That having competitive skills and technique fit for an Oba or a Pharoah was actually being caught up in a "White Art Thing". And taking on the challenges of commercial competition,,,,,well that was totally demised as "selling out"!
That was so not him. Onli was always looking at every option to display aspects of Rhythmism as a Future-Primitif genre to expand the constricting canon of the international visual art world, Fine and Commercial. Illustrating the cover of the program book was a rare iconic moment. The NCA / National Conference of Artist was the oldest organization for the celebration and promotion of Black and African Visual Artists. This was its 25th anniversary celebration.
Rhythmism would be its face. Future-Primitif all the way!
But beyond the novelty of being a Black person making art about the narratives of the Black experience, it was pretty stale to me. Onli was bringing the heat. The fire, flow and funk plus his world-class cascading skill-set that included illustrating for some of the largest publishing & broadcasting companies of that era.
Onli was seriously taking the artistic and creative fight to the belly of the beasts,,,,known as systemic racism, heterophobia, classism, orthodoxy, tribalism, and agism.