Photographing the man-made enables me to record human ingenuity and its footprint left in the wake of our manufactured existence.
My conceptual works offer up visual stories in which I explore various themes such as food production, transportation, manufacturing of commodities, space exploration, industrialization of natural resources, et al.
The resulting images from each of these works depict my vision of an alternate kind of beauty and storytelling, that transcends the state of where we are and where we might be heading with respect to human progress.
Neil Marcello
Born in Bombay, India, Neil spent part of his childhood years in Dubai. There he witnessed the transformation of a barren desert landscape into a thriving, manufactured oasis that sparked his interest in modern design and architecture. He moved to the United States in 1994 to pursue a BS from Indiana State University, where he concentrated his studies in conceptual design and urban architecture.
From 1998 to 2010, Neil worked in Chicago’s IT industry while immersing himself in the city’s prolific art communities, unique history and diverse cultural roots. This exposure would ignite a passion and lay the groundwork for his exploration in photography. He describes these years as fundamental to his maturation from a casual snap shot observer, to a photographic and print artist. In the summer of 2010, Neil resigned from his tech career, removing the safety net of his IT job in order to focus on expanding his creative capabilities, and artistic vision as a photographer. He left Chicago later that year and continued his artistic exploration in other cities including Vancouver, Bombay and Los Angeles, as he began developing a body of work that would define his approach and style.
Since 2013 Neil has continued to expand on this body of work, completing the photographic series, Sweet Tooth, together with a self-published monograph about the project, and the follow up series entitled, Toy Stories.
Solo Exhibitions
2016, Sweet Tooth, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 29 – Jul 31
2015, Neil Marcello: At Burst Point, Industrious, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nov 1 – Dec 1
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019, POST – All Together Now, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sept 26 – Oct 20
2018, Manufactured Color, Project: ARTSpace, New York, New York, June 26 – August 26
2017, Utopia/Dystopia, National Juried Exhibition, Juror: John Massier, Main Street Arts Gallery, Clifton Springs, New York, May 20 – June 30
2015, POST – Spotlight on Photo and Digital Arts, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oct 1 – Nov 1
2015, In The Annex: Black & White Show, The Annex at 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Apr 16 – May 30
2014, 3rd Street Gallery Group Exhibition, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jul 30 – Aug 31
2014, 116th Annual Student Exhibition, Suzanne Fleisher and Ralph Joel Roberts Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Feb 18 – Mar 7
2013, The Light Room Member Group Exhibition, The Light Room Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dec 6 – Jan 5
2013, Real People Exhibition, Old Court House Arts Center, Woodstock, Illinois, Aug 8 – Sep 28
2013, CityScapes Art Exhibition, Light Space & Time, Online Art Gallery, Jul 1 – Aug 1
Commissions
2018, Oliveri Family, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2017, Garces Dental Group, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2017, Mirabal-Garces Family Photograph Album Restoration, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Selected Exhibition Catalogues, Books & Publications as Author
2016-present, Blog Articles for theartblog.org, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2016, Sweet Tooth, Monograph, Blurb Books: San Francisco, California, 2016. Neil Marcello
2016, Photographs My Way, Photographic book, Blurb Books: San Francisco, California, 2016. Ronald Dean Corbin and Neil Marcello
2013, The Light Room Gallery Annual Member Show, Catalogue to exhibition, The Light Room Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dec 6 – Jan 5
Juried Competitions
2016, International Photographer of the Year 2016, iphotographeroftheyear.com, Jurors: Marie Sordat, Vincent Fournier, Peter Braunholz, Third Place Winner – Fine Art: Conceptual
2014, Black & White Magazine Portfolio Competition 2014, bandwmag.com, Finalist
2013, Photo Review Competition 2013, Photoreview.org, Juror: Paul Roth, Senior Curator and Director, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Finalist
Awards and Honors
2013, Light Space & Time, Online Art Gallery, Special Recognition Award
Education
2017, The Museum of Modern Art, Coursera.org online course, Seeing Through Photographs
2014, The California Institute of the Arts, Coursera.org online course, History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers
1998, Indiana State University, Bachelor of Science, Interior Architecture Design