Piero Manzoni was a contemporary Italian artist renown for his conceptual art. Piero Manzoni was born in Soncino, Cremona in the year 1933.
The artist did not attend any formal schooling for art. He taught himself.
Some influences on the artist include Yves Klein and Marcel Duchamp.
Manzoni worked with many mediums and enjoyed using a great deal of gesso in preparing his surfaces. In addition to gesso the artist also used kaolin, which is similar to clay, to build up his paint surfaces.
Manzoni also created a body of work using his own bodily fluids including his own poop, finger prints, and his own breath. He used his own breath to fill up balloons.
The artist is perhaps best known for making 90 cans of his own poop, and then labeling it and selling it as his feces. The works have changed hands many times but have never been opened to confirm the contents. The poop is thought to be plaster by many historians.
Piero Manzoni passed away at only 29 years of age in 1963 after having a heart attack.
Price range information: Works range from $50,000 to $20 million dollars.
Below we visit a retrospective show featuring Manzoni with the great James Kalm. The audio if from a taped radio interview with James Kalm:
What a fascinating life Manzoni led!
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