Name: Piero Manzoni's Merda d’artista
SKU: 1-0364-1746-8
Availability: InStock

Piero Manzoni’s Merda d’artista

That Scandalous Can

Edited By: Luca Bochicchio, Rosalia Pasqualino di Marineo

£74.99

A turning point in conceptual art, Manzoni's "Merda d'artista" is provocative, scandalous, and misunderstood. This first scholarly study uses the latest research to uncover the iconic work's hidden meanings and profound influence.

This is the first comprehensive scholarly book on Piero Manzoni’s “Merda d’artista (Artist’s Shit)”, one of the most provocative and misunderstood works of contemporary art.…

This is the first comprehensive scholarly book on Piero Manzoni’s “Merda d’artista (Artist’s Shit)”, one of the most provocative and misunderstood works of contemporary art. Often compared to Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” (1917), Manzoni’s work has been both scandalous and influential, marking a turning point in 1960s conceptualism. The book presents the latest research on “Merda d’artista”, revealing its hidden meanings and stories, all verified. Drawing from multiple disciplines, including Art History, Philosophy, Sociology, Chemistry, and Economics, the book compiles papers from an international conference held in Verona, Italy, in March 2023. Organized by the Fondazione Piero Manzoni and the University of Verona, this work summarizes years of research on this iconic work, part of which available on the website “merdadartista.org.” It is designed to introduce an international audience to the profound impact and significance of Manzoni’s controversial art.

Luca Bochicchio is Assistant Professor in the History of Contemporary Art at the University of Verona, Italy, and the Scientific Director of the Ceramics Museum of Savona and MuDA-Jorn House Museum in Albissola, Italy. He has been a visiting research fellow at the National Institute for Art History (INHA), Paris, the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and the Beinecke Library, Yale University. His recently published books are Enrico Baj. Catalogue Raisonné of Ceramic Works (2024), Lucio Fontana. Lettere a Tullio d’Albisola 1936-1964 (2023), Lam et Les Magiciens de la Mer (edited with S. Cattaneo, 2023).

Rosalia Pasqualino di Marineo began working with the Fondazione Piero Manzoni in 1996 and shortly afterwards coordinated the General Catalogue edited by Germano Celant. She has been Director of the Fondazione Piero Manzoni since 2009 and curated several Piero Manzoni’s solo exhibitions in Italy and abroad, also editing the exhibition catalogues and books about the artist.

Flaminio Gualdoni, Luca Bochicchio, Francesco Guzzetti, Choghakate Kazarian, Federico Leoni, Nicola Ludwig, Letizia Bonizzoni, Marco Gargano, Jaleh Mansoor, Luisa Mensi, Monica Molteni, Irene Stucchi, Arianna Novaga, Rosalia Pasqualino di Marineo, Giada Pellicari, Raffaella Perna, Domenico Quaranta, Marco Senaldi, Matteo Torre, Giorgio Zanchetti