Piero Manzoni's Artist's Shit Turns 60: Wallpapers, Books, and a Dedicated Website

The Fondazione Piero Manzoni, directed by Rosalia Pasqualina Di Marineo, has launched multiple initiatives to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Piero Manzoni's "Merda d'artista" (Artist's Shit), produced in May 1961 as 90 numbered cans. A wallpaper collection inspired by the work, created with Tuscan company Taplab, is on view from May 13 at Casa degli Artisti in Milan, alongside the original can no. 63. Two major publications mark the occasion: a book by Carlo Cambi Editore featuring essays by Di Marineo, Luca Bochicchio, Flaminio Gualdoni, and Marco Senaldi, and an online issue of Ursula, the Hauser & Wirth magazine, launching May 15 with contributions from a New York psychoanalyst and a short film by Andrea Bettinetti about a 1971 parliamentary inquiry. A dedicated website, merdadartista.org, has been launched and will remain active beyond the anniversary. The foundation also collaborates with Hauser & Wirth on exhibitions and publications, including the 2019 shows "Materials of His Time" and "Lines" in Los Angeles and New York, and the book "Writings on Art." Di Marineo's essay debunks myths, such as the false claim that Manzoni created the work to offend his father, and notes the piece's paradoxical status as a pop culture icon referenced by musicians like Baustelle and Coma_Cose.