MARCO CASTANEDA

I have begun to approach working with physical photographs no longer as precious objects, but as malleable forms with sculptural possibilities. I find comfort in cutting, folding, and re-photographing the items I make in hopes of manifesting a more solid foundation to build.

I enjoy the tactility of sculpture and its haptic registers within the photographic. I often use found objects, usually pieces of fashion that represent a specific type of person, most of the time, the kind of person I used to be. I’m thinking about control and presented image; what is shown and what is concealed.

I aim to create worlds within worlds, sometimes as an exploration of the surreal, but often to escape the present climate, figuratively and literally, we are currently living in.

CV

B 1994

Lives and works in Los Angeles

Solo Exhibitions

First Impressions of My True Self, Rotterdam Photo, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2021

Boys in Polos Think its Funny, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017

Group Shows and Collaborations/Artist Talks

Garden, Art Share LA, Los Angeles, CA 2020

Distorted Perception, Today at Apple, Apple Store Union Square 2019

The Sweet Escape,  Fort Mason's Gallery 308, San Francisco 2018

Way Bay Now Exhibition, Berkeley Art and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley CA 2018

Altered Landscapes, Southern Graphics Council, Las Vegas, Nevada 2018

The Love Below, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2018

The Radicals, The Real Old Paper Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2018

You Were Here, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2018

The Impracticals, Bass and Reiner, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA 2017

Fort Mason Opening Spectacle, SFAI Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 2017

Playtime, Isaac Julien, (Collaborative Card Piece) Fort Mason Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA 2017

Many Rooms by Ebitenyefa Baralaye, (collaborative video piece) Museum of African Diaspora, 

San Francisco, CA 2017

It's Complicated, 511 Pop Up Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017

Below the Threshold, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017

Inadequacy, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017

Awards & Residencies

Tech Campus Commission, Los Angeles, CA 2021 (Forthcoming)

Adidas Originals Window Activation 2018

Paul Sack Award 2018

Casa Na Ilha Artist in Residence, Sao Paulo, Brazil 2018

San Francisco Art Institute Photography Program Honorable Mention 2017

Paul Sack Award Honorable Mention 2017

San Francisco Art Institute Merit Portfolio Scholarship in Photography 2015-2018

Skills

• Photography & Imaging
• Photoshop
• Lightroom
• Illustrator
• Premiere Pro
• Videography
• Print Media/Design
• Photo & Video Production
• Digital Content Production/Strategy Execution
• Art Consulting