Margherita Manzelli: A Painter Who Cannot Stop

Margherita Manzelli (Ravenna, 1968) breaks a decade-long silence with an interview coinciding with her solo exhibition at Galleria Civica di Trento, featuring recent paintings and drawings that expand into the space. She describes her female figures as autonomous beings that manifest without models or photographs, evolving into universal human prototypes. The exhibition includes an immersive installation reminiscent of her first solo show at Viafarini, Milan, over 25 years ago, where small oil paintings on board hung from nylon threads with poetic fragments. Manzelli discusses her ambivalent relationship with painting, stating she paints not out of love for the medium but because she cannot stop, despite attempts to quit. She contrasts her process for paintings, which originate fully formed in her mind, with drawings that are allowed more freedom within strict constraints. The interview, conducted by Carlo Sala, touches on the resurgence of painting's popularity, which Manzelli views with detachment, emphasizing her solitary, autarkic practice. She acknowledges the tension between figures and decorative backgrounds in her work as a productive friction. The exhibition title derives from one of her poems, visualized in a small drawing.