Marcus Manganni is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the transformative power of light. Drawing from his lived experience within the carceral system, Manganni first developed techniques such as reflection, refraction, and sun mapping while in solitary confinement. His sculptural installations, which manipulate both natural and synthetic light, challenge institutional uses of illumination and invite viewers to reconsider their relationship to space, control, and perception.
Manganni’s work is held in notable public and private collections including the Ford Foundation (New York, NY), Beth Rudin DeWoody, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum (Queens, NY), The Foundry (Queens, NY), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Nashville, TN). His public art installations exist in cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Nashville, and Memphis.
He is the recipient of several prestigious awards and fellowships, including the 2023 Art for Justice Art and Advocacy Collaborative Grant (New York, NY), the 2023 Art for Justice Individual Artist Grant and Fellowship (New York, NY), the 2022 Right of Return Fellowship (New York, NY), and the 2022 Creatives Rebuild New York Artist Grant(New York, NY). He is currently a 2025 Silver Art Projects Artist-in-Residence and a recipient of the 2025 Prism Public Art Abolitionist Initiative (Cleveland, OH).