Marcella Russo Remembers Cesare Manzo and the Early Days of Fuori Uso

Marcella Russo, an art producer and co-founder of the Fuori Uso festival, remembers Cesare Manzo, who died on October 11, 2019. She recounts meeting Manzo in 1990 at Thomas, a cool spot in Pescara, through Mario di Iorio. Together they founded Fuori Uso, a festival that brought major contemporary artists to Pescara. The first edition opened in 1990 at the Aurum, followed by editions curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and a memorable 1995 edition curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio. Russo recalls artists like Enzo Cucchi, David Hammons, Paola Pivi, Lara Favaretto, Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Mochetti, Wolf Vostell, Massimo Bartolini, and Mario Airò visiting Manzo's home, where he cooked spaghetti with tomato sauce and parmesan. She describes Hammons arriving at the Aurum dressed in gold with a turban, mistaken by Manzo for a beggar. Russo credits Fuori Uso as her formative school, providing an education no university could offer.