* 1933 in Cremona, Italy. † 1963 in Milan
Italian artist
Known for: (Self-)ironic conceptual works as Merda d'artista (1961) or Linee (1959-1961)
Art historical context: Artist group ZERO, postwar avant-garde, Conceptual art
Exhibited works
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Achrome, 1958. GF | A | Kaolin (a soft china clay used in making porcelain) on canvas, 103 x 103 cm. Manzoni started his work Achrome series (1957–1963) with unpainted, colorless surfaces, but they were structured by the application of plaster or clay. He tried "to free the surface." Thus, the material used for these works serves not only as the pigment and supporting material, but is also the sole, true protagonist of the Achromes. Manzoni applied the same precept to reliefs and assemblages of objects, which he produced from a variety of materials, including cotton wool, fluffy synthetic fibers, glass wool, stone, rabbit fur, styrofoam, and bread.
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Achrome, 1958. GF | A | Kaolin on canvas, 103x103 cm. | |
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Achrome, 1958. GF | A | Folded canvas and kaolin, 160 x 130 cm. | |
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Achrome, 1958. GF | A | Kaolin on canvas, 50 x 69.5 cm. | |
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Manifest gegen nichts für die internationale Ausstellung über nichts. Manifesto contro niente per l'esposizione internazionale di niente. Manifeste contre rien pour l'exposition internationale de rien, 1960. BF | A | Manifesto against Nothing for the International Exhibition about Nothing Representative of avant-gardism, conventionalism, modernism, conservatism, communism, capitalism, patriotism, internationalism, monochrome, monotony, Zen, Surrealism, Dadaism, Lettrism, informal, Constructivism, Neo, Tachism.
A canvas is almost as valuable as a painting. A sculpture is almost as good as no sculpture. A machine is almost as beautiful as no machine. The music is almost as enjoyable as no music. Noise is almost as enjoyable as no noise. No art trade is almost as functional as art trade Something is almost nothing (= no thing).
Carl Laszlo, Basel Honorius, Basel Bazon Brock, Itzehoe Schuldt, Hamburg Piero Manzoni, Milan Enrico Castellani, Milan Heinz Mack, Dusseldorf Otto Piene, Dusseldorf.
Nothing will be sold, numbered and signed. Price list is on display. No one speaks at the opening. | |
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GF | A |
The series is comprised of red, blue and white balloons that were inflated by the artist and attached to strings with lead seals stamped with his name, "Piero Manzoni"). Each balloon is attached with plaster to a wooden base that bears a plaque in memory of the artist. | |
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Consumazione dell’arte dinamica del pubblico divorare l'arte (Consumption of Dynamic Art by the Art-Devouring Public), 1961. GF | A |
It was an action with audience participation that resulted in the complete dematerialization, i.e. disappearance, of a piece of art. The visitors had been given hard-boiled eggs that had been "signed" with Manzoni 's thumbprint, and thereby turned into a work of art. By cooking, eating and digesting the eggs, the signature and the signed objects were lost. | |
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GF | A | Nearly naked women's bodies were declared works of art by the act of signing them. In addition, the authenticity of these art works was confirmed by signed, numbered, and dated certificates (carte d'autenticità) that stated: "It is confirmed that [name] was signed by my hand and should therefore be regarded as a genuine and true work of art from now on." Based on tokens on the documents, it can be recognized whether the whole body, or only a certain part of the body, has become art, and whether it is a temporary or permanent work of art. In total, Manzoni transformed 73 people into living sculptures with this procedure. | |
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Basi magiche (Magic base), 1961. GF | A |
Base of plywood, 2 copies produced (one in Turin, one in Venice), each 60 x 79.5 x 79.5cm. By standing on the "magical base" (the position is marked by glued-on felt soles), the visitors will be transformed into living sculptures and thereby experience themselves as a work of art. As long as they stay on the base, they remain a work of art. On the side of the base, a brass plate reads as follows: "Piero Manzoni/Scultura Vivente." Therefore, it is a work of art that does not necessarily need the presence of an artist to be created. | |
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Merda d'Artista (Artist's shit), 1961. GF | A | Manzoni filled 90 cans with his own feces, each with 30 grams, and sealed it (odor resistant). The cans were numbered and multilingually labeled as "merda d'artista," "artist's shit," "Künstlerscheisse," and "merde d'artiste." In addition, the note reads: "Net content 30 grams. All-natural bottled in May 1961." Each can was sold for its weight in gold. At that time, that was about 30,000 euros per piece. All cans were sold. The highest price for a can was achieved at a later auction at Sotheby's in Milan: 96,774 euros. There is a controversy as to whether the cans actually contain the artist's excrement. Some of Manzoni's old friends believe that the cans were filled with plaster, which would even sharpen Manzoni's ironic critique of the art world: gypsum is sold as shit; and this shit is sold as art. According to the Tate Modern it is not possible to verify the contents, since a violent opening of the exhibit would destroy its artistic value. With this work, Manzoni demonstrated his belief that art can be anything, but must be nothing. And that even shit will be accepted as art if presented in the right way. | |
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Base del Mundo (Foundation of the world), 1962. GF | A | Iron base, 90 x 110 x 110 cm, with the inscription: "Socle du monde, socle magic n. 3 de Piero Manzoni – 1961, Hommage à Galileo." The inscription is written upside down, so that it seems as if the base would support the globe. Through this gesture the whole world is declared to be a work of art. The boundary between art and life is disrupted, and art becomes an all-embracing appearance. | |
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Piero Manzoni, life and works (aka The Transparent Book), 1963. GF | B | 18 x 15.5 cm. Petersen Publishing Press. Flensburg / Glücksburg, Germany, 1963. Edition: 60 copies. This is an artist book that consists of one hundred blank and empty plastic sheets, and a cover on which the names of the publisher and the artist, the title of the book, and the place and date of printing are written in black. It is held together by a white plastic binding. The artist presented this book shortly before his death in 1963 in a letter he sent to his friend and publisher Jes Petersen, who carried out Manzoni's instructions posthumously and printed it in an edition of sixty copies. A second edition of one hundred copies was printed in 1969. | |
| Links Pieromanzoni.org | Gagosian Gallery | Tate | MoMA | Further informations 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Credits All reproductions © 2014, ProLitteris, Zurich | ||
Fiato d’artista (Artist's breath), 1960.
Sculture viventi (Living sculptures), 1961.
