Education
BA in English and Film
Vassar College, University of Michigan (1978)
Recent Projects
2024 Theatre of the Everyday
Artist Book, Photographs. Printed in Milan, Italy
2019-2022 Nomadicube (Chicago, IL)
Nari’s Garden (2022) @ Mana Contemporary, a collaboration with Jalisa Ford and other mothers from Cabrini Green in Chicago who have lost their children to gun violence. Interwoven (2020), a large scale weaving installation with Julia Blake. The Cube in Chicago, (2019) : HERE (Pilsen) with Undocumented Projects, SOVEREIGN (Bridgeport) with Santiago X, and RUMOR (Chatham) with Aaron Evans and musicians from Paper Cranes.
Nomadicube is a participatory and collaborative project by Marianne Bernstein. A 10’ cube becomes a roving satellite, living room, radio station, studio, performance space, movie theatre; collecting stories and bringing people together in surprising new ways. The geometry of the cube frames space into a creative free zone; the practice inside is unpredictable, allowing for spontaneous and intimate interactions, often around social justice issues. *Past cubes include: The Welcome House, Love Park (2010) Not a Vacant Lot, Philadelphia, PA (2011), Beyond What Was in New Haven, CT (2012); and in Skagastrond, a small fishing village in Northern Iceland (2014). Over the years the cube has become increasingly minimal and lightweight to facilitate travel but its original function remains the same.
2017 Due South (Sicily)
Due South was the second project in a quartet of volcanic island explorations exhibited at The Delaware Contemporary in their three main galleries. “Each of the works in Due South raises compelling questions about who defines history. Is it artists, because they offer intriguing images of the landscapes and people of Sicily? Do the aristocrats have the ultimate authority because they have the money and land? Or is it the migrants, illegal and legal, who have always come and gone on this island...an exhibition such as this neutralizes the idea of an original people and single authority.”
—Stan Mir, Hyperallergic
2014 Due North (Iceland)
A project of Philagrafika, presented in the massive Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia, Due North featured large scale video (projected onto a 120’ wall), prints, and sculpture created by Iceland’s best artists, including Venice Biennale representatives Ruri (2003), Ragnar Kjartansson (2013) and Hrafnhildur Arnardottir (2019) who along with Kolbein Hugi completed residencies at Next Fab to create new 3D works for the show. New works by the participants were showcased as the result of a series of group expeditions and residencies in Philadelphia and Iceland. The exhibition included 26 artists many of whom collaborated together over the course of three years and seven visits. “From the frosty expanses of the Arctic, as well as in Philadelphia, the ambitious Due North exhibition appropriately housed at the Crane Arts Icebox space calls on 13 international artists and 13 Icelandic artists for a collaboration of mystical proportions. In this extensive show curated by Marianne Bernstein, artists explore themes including storytelling, travel, nature and climate, humor, and the intersections of many different media. The culmination of a three-year exchange of ideas and the journeys of countless individuals, this show has more than enough beauty and ingenuity to go around.”
—Artblogreview, 2014
2012 The Playhouse: Beyond What Was (New Haven, CT)
The second installation of the Play House traveled outside of Philadelphia with support from an NEA grant. As a nomadic architectural structure, it was transported to New Haven to activate Artspace’s “The Lot,” while exploring the social and human implication of homelessness and addiction. Artists Darwin Nix and Keliy Anderson-Staley were invited to make work on site within the cube to call attention to this problematic space and the complex social issues within New Haven. “Bernstein hopes to spark artists, particularly visual artists, to connect with each other and reach out to the community.”
—David Brensilver, The Arts Paper, 2012
2011 The Playhouse: Not a Vacant Lot (Philadelphia, PA)
The Playhouse is a multi-purpose aluminum 8’x8’ cube, a nomadic version of the Welcome House. Ten artist teams were invited to activate vacant lots throughout Philadelphia and create a short film. At night, these films were projected onto the exterior of the cube, which was installed as a temporary video installation and performance venue in a vacant lot on Broad Street. There are 40,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia. The intent was to demonstrate the potential for re-imagining empty space in new ways through artist interventions and neighborhood collaborations. “Bernstein is well-known in the art world as a pusher of boundaries.”
—Nathaniel Popkin, The Philadelphia Inquirer
2010 The Philadelphia Underground (Philadelphia, PA)
A site specific video installation in which eight artists were challenged to create work exploring our neglected subway system and underused public spaces in Philadelphia. The videos were projected onto aging walls for three days beneath Dilworth Plaza: a derelict underground public transit space, in the heart of downtown, adjacent to City Hall. The project also restored a statue that was the centerpiece for the space, engaged the homeless residents of the space to help clean the plaza, as well as provided live music, popcorn, and a red carpet as a makeover for the space as it was reinvented through the videos. “We need more temporary public art like this to freshen the city and introduce the public to unusual contemporary art usually not seen by most people because it lurks in galleries where most folks don’t go.”
—Artblog
2009 The Welcome House (Philadelphia, PA)
Artist residency by day, video installation by night, The Welcome House, a 10’x10’ transparent cube debuted in Love Park. Working with Interface Studio Architects and Klip Collective, the cube and video projections were designed to transform the structure into a dynamic four-sided experience. Twenty Philadelphia artists created new work inside the cube based on their interactions with the public. Each night Love Park became an open-air lounge where visitors, as well as the park’s homeless participants returned to the space to see themselves projected onto the cube. “This is exactly the sort of project I would like to see much more of throughout the city. It is art that is temporary, of the highest quality, wakes people up and confronts/engages/delights them in the course of their daily routine.
—Gary Steuer, Director of Arts & Culture, Philadelphia
2009 Shelter (Philadelphia, PA)
Conceived and curated a bi-level installation at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. For six months, “fourteen artists were paired with ten Philadelphia families facing eviction to make art dealing with issues of family crisis and homelessness. The photography, painting, video and drawing that resulted are art as social activism by artists known for great empathy in their art.” —Artblog
2006-08 Tatted (Philadelphia, PA)
A monograph of Bernstein’s photographic work that examines Philadelphia’s legendary South Street tattoo culture. The project incorporated social portraiture with hand written notes in order to explore people’s tattoos as windows into their souls and codes that revel deep personal significance. “Marianne Bernstein is the woman behind the lens. Armed with just a camera and a notepad, the 53-year-old Philly photographer asked strangers to jot down the meaning behind the art adorning their arms, legs, and various other sundry body parts.”
—Julia West, Philadelphia City Paper
Film
The Earthquake, 2011- Producer (directed by Danielle Lessovitz)
Official Selection of the Torino International Film Festival, Fusion Film Festival,
Kansas City Film Festival, and Milan Film Festival
From Philadelphia to the Front, 2005 (co-director and producer)
Distributed by the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University
The award-winning documentary traveled to 15 film festivals worldwide. “I don’t find it at all ironic that the single best film in this year’s New York Jewish Film Festival is one of the shorter ones. Judy Gelles and Marianne Bernstein, the directors of From Philadelphia to the Front, knew exactly what they wanted to say, said it, and got out.” —George Robinson, The Jewish Week
Curatorial Work / Projects
2020 Due East, Taiwan postponed due to Covid-19.
2017 Due South, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE
2014 Due North, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia
2012 The Play House: Beyond What Was, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2011 The Play House: Not a Vacant Lot, Broad Street Arts Lot, Philadelphia
2010 The Philadelphia Underground, Dilworth Plaza, Philadelphia
Big Bang, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia
2009 Shelter, The Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia
17 emerging and established artists created new work in collaboration with local families on the brink of homelessness.
The Welcome House, Philadelphia
Artist residency by day, video installation by night, The Welcome House, a 10’x10’ transparent cube debuted in Love Park.
2000 Foreign Bodies: art, medicine, technology, untitled(space), New Haven
Featured 36 works by seventeen emerging and established artists including Joan Fontcuberta, Gary Schneider, and Terry Winters.
1998 Postmark International, Artspace, New Haven
During the International Festival of Art and Ideas, I invited twenty international artists to create a 6’x9’ work on a primed blank canvas (mailed it in identical black tubes around the world) about a place that had personal resonance. Work was hung from the ceiling as flags).
1997-00 Head of Visual Arts, and Curator, Artspace, New Haven, CT
Founded, developed and implemented new programming including:
• City Wide Open Studios, one of the first open studio programs offering alternative studio spaces, (such as abandoned buildings and empty lots) for artists. Co-founded with Helen Kauder and Linn Meyers.
• untitled(space) gallery, presenting new work by emerging and mid-career artists with an emphasis on works in progress, interactive, and site-specific work.
• The Lot, a formerly abandoned lot on lower Chapel Street that we redeveloped as a space for temporary art installations.
Solo Exhibitions
2013 The Cube, Public art installation in Skagastrond, Iceland
2009 Tatted, exhibition and book launch, Pure Gold Gallery, Philadelphia
1999 Dream Series, RJ Julia Madison, CT.
1993 5 Portraits/ The Crown Heights History Project, The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
1992 A Silver Thread, Small Space Gallery, New Haven, CT
1992 Summer 92’, Rotunda Gallery, New Haven, CT
1985 Veterans, New Haven Foundation, New Haven, CT
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Le Salon de Septembre, GSL Gallery, Paris France
2020 Long Time No See, Chicago Art Department
2018 Polaris: Northern Explorations in Contemporary Art, Michener Art Museum
2017 Due South, The Delaware Contemporary
2014 Due North, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia
Due North, Philagrafika Portfolio, Philadelphia
2011 Dionysia Residency Exhibition, Thingeyri, Iceland
2010 Philagrafika Invitational, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
2009 Into Your Head,Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art, New Jersey
2003 101 Dresses, Artspace, New Haven
2000 The Cave, untitled(space), New Haven
An installation inside a darkened room with chalkboard paint featuring recorded audio, wall drawings, and projected portraits of the homeless community, including Margaret Holloway, “The Shakespeare Lady”.
1999 Artists in Residence, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven
1999 Raw Pieces, PABA Gallery, New Haven
The Harbor of the Red Mountains: Contemporary Photographers Look at East Rock and West Rock, New Haven Historical Society, New Haven
1997 Trans-Form, Zoon Gallery, New Haven
“Marianne Bernstein’s 1998-1999 series of photographs taking off from her own dream journal photographically embody a ‘memory’ that is more current in the present than in the past, a waking transformation of a psychological truth accessible only through a dream states.”
– Pamela Franks
1998 Kiasma, untitled(space), New Haven
1996 Barriers and Enclosures, Artspace Gallery, New Haven
1996 The Virtual Self, The Mill Gallery, Guilford
1996 Reframing Tradition, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven
1996 Group Show, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
1996 Images ‘96, The Mill Gallery, Guilford, CT.
1995 The Connecticut Open,Real Art Ways, Hartford
New Work, Artspace Gallery, New Haven
People and Places, M.F.A.A Gallery, New Haven
Photography, Drawing and Prints, Artworks Gallery, Hartford
Figuratively Speaking, John Slade Ely House, New Haven
1994 Artists in Residence, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven
1994 About Face, Real Art Ways, Hartford
1992 Reprographics and the Visual Artist, The Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven
1998 Connecticut Women Photographers, Artspace Gallery, New Haven
Awards and Residencies
2020 Artist in Residence at Chicago Art Department
2014 Iceland Naturally Exhibition Sponsorship
2014 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts PPA Project Stream Grant
2014 PECO Exhibition Sponsorship
2013 Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts
2013 Nes Artist Residency, Skagastrond Iceland
2013 I.C.E. (International Curatorial Exchange) at the Icebox Project Space
2012 NEA Artworks support grant for The Playhouse: Beyond What Was
2011 PEW Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship Finalist
2011 Dionysia Residency, Iceland
2010 Mother Teresa Award
2004 Honickman Foundation Grant
2003 Leeway Window of Opportunity Grant
2001 Honored by John DeStefano, Jr. Mayor of New Haven:
“Marianne Bernstein founded 98NH2000, Citywide Open Studios, untitled(space), and The Lot; organized and assisted with dozens of exhibitions, and counseled, mentored, and encouraged hundreds of artists…a leader, true artistic visionary, risk taker and hard worker, who has given love, sweat, and tears to tell the truth about New Haven and showcase the best of what New Haven offers.” —John DeStefano, Mayor
2000 Andy Warhol Grant awarded for Foreign Bodies exhibition
1998 Voted “Best Arts Visionary” by the New Haven Advocate
1998 Opening Doors, Opening Minds Award, New Haven Arts Council
1996 Award for Excellence, Women in the Visual Arts, Erector Square Gallery
Publications/Artist Talks, Interviews, and Podcasts
2024 20/20 Photo Festival, Philadelphia
Photo Book Mini Fair, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven
The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore, Paris
2022 CHINA-US WOMEN'S FOUNDATION
2020 PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL
INVISIBLE ACTIVITY
CUSWF GEN Z FORUM
2017 Symposium organizer/presenter for Due South: “Tumbling the Jewel,” The Delaware Contemporary
2014 Due South curator talk, The Delaware Contemporary
2013 Islensk Grafik, Artist talk, Reykjavik, Iceland
2010 “Chit, Chat, Change” at AIGA Philadelphia, panel discussion
2009 “TATTED,” monograph published by GritCity, Inc
1999 Yale University Art Gallery, Artist talk
1990 Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Artist talk
1992 “American Sculpture at Yale University,” Yale University Press, photographer
1983 “New York at Night,” published by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang