Painting, for me, is a journey that comes from my life experiences. The work in this exhibition is from a period in my life of trying to find a sense of balance after the first year of the pandemic.
These paintings reveal contrasting elements and show the struggle to find the unity between them. Most paintings have strong lights and darks, and sometimes color, and contain elements of drawing and painting. The challenge is to make these competing elements work together in a composition. I first focus on drawing and then include various shapes and colors and then try to integrate the various passages into some type of harmony. This body of work includes a number of mixed media pieces with lines, circles and other floating marks perhaps suggesting a happier time and sense of freedom. The black and white/beige shapes speak to the contrasts in life and the way they effect our lives.
There is a lot of history and texture in the work. The surface shows the remnants of constant reworking – drawing first and then painting over that and drawing more and painting again. Each painting has shapes added and subtracted over and over again. This goes on until a sense of balance is achieved. I think of my work as passionate and joyful and full of movement.
Artist Biography
Nancy Neill is a contemporary abstract painter who was born in Akron, Ohio. She has had nine solo shows and has been included in numerous group shows. She has traveled extensively in the US and internationally, and currently lives in the Philadelphia area.Nancy has had several awards and been included in a number of publications. Her work is in many private collections.
Nancy had a solo exhibition at Cerulean Arts Gallery in 2021 and at Muse Gallery in 2022 and 2020. She was in the 2020 Hamptons Art Fair represented by Bluestone Gallery. Nancy participated in the Art of the State exhibition at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, a group show at the Cerulean Arts Gallery curated by Liz Osborne, and also in a group show at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts curated by Bridgette Mayer.
Nancy is currently on the Collections Committee of the Woodmere Art Museum. She received a B.S. degree from Miami University in Ohio and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.
Education
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL MA
Miami of Ohio, Oxford, OH BA
Continuing Education
Woodmere Art Museum
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Main Line Art Center
Awards & Honors
2018 Winner Solo Show Award, Tri-State Artist Equity, West Chester University, West Chester, PA
Merit Award, New Hope Art League Juried art Show, Jurors: James Toogood & Lisa Hanover
2012 Richard Nexon Award, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
Main Line Art Center Annual Exhibition Award Winner, Juror: Moe Brooker
Bibliography
"Bluestone Fine Art Gallery @ Hampton’s Virtual Art Fair", InLiquid, July 2020
"Synergy/Contemporary Landscapes", creativephl.org, November 2019
"Artists and Life Partners Find Synergy", Philadelphia Gay News, November 25, 2018:24
Studio Visit Magazine, Winter 2017
"Untitled," DonArtNews, November 2016
"Muse Gallery Nancy Neill," Where Philadelphia, November 2016; 20
"Hill Artists Honored," Chestnut Hill Local 13 August, 2015:27
"The State Museum of Pennsylvania Announces Finalists for Annual ‘Art of the State’ Exhibition, Awards Set for June 28," PR Newswire, June 9, 2015
"Artist of the Week" First Friday Feature Film online, February 27, 2015
"Art Studio Visit" Artsy Shark 20 January, 2015
"Art in Philly: First Fridays" The Walk Online, October 23, 2014
"Hill ex-corporate exec now wins awards with abstract art," Chestnut Hill Local October 30, 2014: 27
"The Art of Promotion,” The Professional Artist, June/July 2014: 20-24
"Hill Painters Expect Artwork to Pay Creative Dividends," Chestnut Hill Local, January 9, 2014: 14
“Fall AE Select Show report” Philadelphia/Tri-State Artists Equity Association, Fall 2013: 3
“Juror’s Discussion: Dr. Donald Kuspit on Painting 215/610 Annual Juried Exhibition” Philadelphia Magazine Online, September 12, 2013
Publications
"The Art of Promotion", Professional Artist Magazine, June/July 2014
Collection
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Private collections in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Georgia, and France
Affiliations
InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA
Collections Committee, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Professional Experience
2015-2018 Director, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011-Present Collections Committee, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Exhibitions
Solo
2022 Balancing Act, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Feeling Red, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Select New Work, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Recent Work, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Synergy/Contemporary Landscapes, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2017 New Work, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Untitled, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2014 The Urban Landscape Reimagined, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Faces of Hospitality, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
Group
2021 Annual Exhibition, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Hamptons Art Fair, Bluestone Fine Arts Gallery Booth, Virtual Fair
2019 42nd Annual Exhibition, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Incredible Lightness of Art, Tri-State Artists Equity, Wallingford, PA Juried Exhibition
Regional Juried Spring Open, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
Philadelphia/Tri-State Artists Equity Juried Show, GoggleWorks, Reading, PA
Professional Artist Members Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2018 Artist Equity Spring Exhibition, West Chester University, West Chester, PA
112th Annual Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks, Reading, PA
Juried Art Show, New Hope Art League, New Hope, PA
Professional Members Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2017 40th Annual Exhibition, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Artist Equity 68th Anniversary Exhibition, Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA Juror: Jan Baltzell
Professional Artist Members Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2016 The 39th Anniversary Show, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Artist Equity 67th Anniversary Exhibition, West Chester University, West Chester, PA Juror: Michael Kowbuz
Spring Gala Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Professional Artist Members Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2015 The 38th Anniversary Show and Benefit for Project HOME, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
3rd Annual Juried Exhibition, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Art + Science, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
Spring Gala Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2015 Act II, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Juried Group Exhibition, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE Juror: Bridgette Mayer
86th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Harrisburg, PA
71st Cheltenham Annual Awards Juried Painting Show, Cheltenham, PA Juror: Richard Rosenfeld
MCGOPA: The Artists’ Perspective, SPP Galleries, Conshohocken PA Juror: Charles Stainback, Director, Berman Museum of Art
2013 Artist Equity Select Show, Media PA Juror: Moe Brooker
215/610 Juried Exhibition, Delaware County Community College, Media, PA Juror: Dr. Kuspit
Lancaster Art Association National, Strasburg, PA Juried Exhibition
85th Annual Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg PA
CE Annual Juried Student Exhibition, PAFA, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Annual Exhibition, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Annual Juried Show, Abington Art Center, Abington PA
MCGOPA Annual Spring Juried Show, SSP Galleries, Conshohocken PA Juror: Christopher Schmidt, Schmidt-Dean Gallery
84th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg PA Juror: Robert Cozzolino
MCGOPA “The World of the Professional Artist” Show, SSP Galleries, Conshohocken PA
Annual Show, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
71st Annual Show, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
2011 Small Works, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
Memory, Show Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
2010 Nicols Berg Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Absolutely Abstract Exhibit, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
