Piero Manzoni was born on July 13, 1933 in Soncino (Cremona). He grows in Milan, spending the summer holidays at Albisola Marina, in Liguria, where the family frequents Lucio Fontana, the founder of Spatialism.
In 1956 Manzoni debuted at the "IV Fiera Mercato" of the Sforzesco Castle of Soncino. The following year he participated in the exhibition "Arte Nucleare" at the San Fedele gallery in Milan: he painted anthropomorphic silhouettes and paintings with object imprints. He also realized the first Achromes (1957), large white surfaces soaked with glue and kaolin (a white clay used in ceramic production).
In 1958 he exhibited with Lucio Fontana and Enrico Baj. Collaboration with Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi begins. In 1959 he founded the magazine "Azimuth" and the Azimut Gallery.
Manzoni's style becomes more and more radical. Overtakes the surface of the painting and proposes a series of provocative works, intolerant to tradition:
 -Lines drawn on paper strips, rolled up and closed in a cardboard tube (the longest, created in Herning, Denmark, in 1960, thanks to the patronage of Aage Damgaard, measuring 7200 meters);
-The Corpi d’Aria and the Fiato d’Artista (balloons containing the breath of Manzoni);
-Eggs sculpture, authenticated by the artist's fingerprints;
-The magic bases, pedestals on which anyone can become a work of art;
- New Achromes, made of the most varied materials, from glass fiber to plasticized sheets, some strictly white, others in phosphorescent colors.
On July 21, 1960, Piero Manzoni presented at the Azimut Gallery in Milan one of the most famous performances: “Consumazione dell'arte dinamica del pubblico divorare l'arte”. The artist signs thumbs with some hard boiled eggs that are consumed on the spot by the public.
In 1961, Piero Manzoni, at the Galleria La Tartaruga in Rome, signed for the first time humans, transforming them into living sculptures. In the same year, he puts the boxes of artist Merda.
In 1962, Manzoni designed with Jes Petersen the publication of a book on white pages: "Piero Manzoni, The Life and the Works".
On February 6, 1963, Manzoni suddenly died of a heart attack in Milan, in his studio.

2015

Piero Manzoni. Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

2014

Piero Manzoni: 1933–1963. Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy.

2013

Piero Manzoni. When Bodies Became Art. Stadel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany.

2011

Azimut. Gagosian Gallery, Davies Street, London.

2009

Piero Manzoni: A Retrospective. Gagosian Gallery, W. 24th Street, New York, NY.

2008

Piero Manzoni. MADRE Museum, Naples, Italy.

1998

Piero Manzoni. Serpentine Gallery, London, England.

1997

Piero Manzoni. Milano et mitologia, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy.

1995

Piero Manzoni: Line Drawings. the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA.

Piero Manzoni: Linee. Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy.

Le carte di Piero Manzoni. Rocca Sforzesca, Soncino, Italy.

1992

Piero Manzoni. Castello di Rivoli – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy.

1991

Piero Manzoni. Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France.

Piero Manzoni. Herning Kunstmuseum, Herning, Germany.

Piero Manzoni. Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundacion “la Caixa,” Madrid, Spain.

1990

Piero Manzoni. Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY.

1989

Piero Manzoni. Karsten Schubert LTD, London.

Piero Manzoni: Philosophy of infinite space. Contemporary Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.

1987

Piero Manzoni. Soncino 1933-1963 Milano, Galerie des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium.

1985

Piero Manzoni. Ippolito Simonis Gallery, Turin, Italy.

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Blu, Milan, Italy.

1983

Piero Manzoni. Kamakura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.

1981

Piero Manzoni, Arbeiten von 1957-1961. Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany.

1979

Piero Manzoni: opere dal 1956 al 1963. Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy.

1978

Manzoni. Galleria d’Arte Fonte d’Abisso, Modena, Italy.

1977

Gorgona. Galerija Studentskog Kulturnog Centra, Belgrade, Serbia.

1975

Piero Manzoni: Opere-documentazione-films. Naples, Italy.

1974

Piero Manzoni: 1933-1963. Tübingen Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany.

Piero Manzoni. Paintings, Reliefs & Objects. Tate Gallery, London.

1973

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Forma, Genoa, Italy.

Piero Manzoni: 1933-1963. Werke aus holländischem Privatbesitz. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

1973

Piero Manzoni: 1933-1963. Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München, Germany.

Piero Manzoni. Paul Maenz Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium.

Piero Manzoni. Royal Collage of Art Gallery, London.

Piero Manzoni. Luca Palazzoli, Milan, Italy.

1972

Piero Manzoni. Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY.

Piero Manzoni. Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX.

1971

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy.

Piero Manzoni – PMP. Opere inedited 1959. Galleria Il Cenobio – Visualità, Milan, Italy.

Piero Manzoni. Bilder, Galerie Thomas, Munich, Germany.

Piero Manzoni. Museo di Crema, Crema, Italy.

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, Italy.

1970

Piero Manzoni. Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany.

Piero Manzoni. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Holland.

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Blu, Milan, Italy.

Manzoni. Galleria la Bertesca, Genoa, Italy.

Mostra retrospettiva di Piero Manzoni. Modern Art Agency, Naples, Italy.

1963

Piero Manzoni. Galerie Smith Brussels, Belgium.

1961
Galleria Luca Scacchi Gracco, Milan
Kunstnerlort. Merda d'Artista. Artist's Shit. Levende Kunstværk. Opere Vive. Lebendes Kunstwerk. Oeuvres Vivantes. Living Works of Piero Manzoni, Galerie Køpcke, Copenaghen.

1960
Corpi d'aria di Piero Manzoni, Azimut, Milan.
Piero Manzoni. Milano, Galerie Køpcke, Copenaghen.
Manzoni, Galerie Carette, Glücksburg-Ostsee.
Nutrimenti d'arte di Piero Manzoni. Consumazione dell'arte dinamica del pubblico divorare l'arte, Azimut, Milan

1959

Piero Manzoni: Rilievi. Galerie De Posthoorn, The Hague, Netherlands.

Piero Manzoni. Galleria La Parete Milan, Italy.

Pozzetto Chiuso, Albisola Marina (Savona)
Le linee di Piero Manzoni, Azimut, Milan.

1958

Piero Manzoni. Galleria Pater Milan, Italy.

Piero Manzoni. Rotterdamsche Kunstkring Rotterdam, Netherlands.

1957

Piero Manzoni. Foyer del Teatro delle Maschere Milan, Italy.

Piero Manzoni, Sede del Corriere della Provincia, Como, Italy

2015

Zero: Let Us Explore the Stars. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Chromophobia. Gagosian Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.

2013

La Rinascita: Storie dell’Italia che ce l’ha fatta 1945–1970. Asti, Palazzo Mazzetti, Rome, Italy.

1963

Bonalumi, Castellani, Manzoni, Bonalumi, Castel. Galerie Kasper, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Zero. Galerie Schindler, Berlin, Germany.
Mostra monocroma, Galleria Il Fiore, Florence, Italy.
Zero - der neue Idealismus, Galleria Diogenes, Berlin.
Panorama van de nieuwe tendenzen, Galerie Amstel 47, Amsterdam.

1962
Zero, Galerie Ad Libitum, Antwerp.
Castellani et Manzoni, Galerie Aujourd'hui, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles.
Tentoonstelling Nul, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Proposta poesia, Teatro del Corso, Milan, Italy.
Zero, Galerie Schindler, Bern.
Castellani Manzoni Schoonhoven, Galerie Delta, Rotterdam.
Galleria Cenobio-Visualità, Milan, Italy

1961
Neue italienische kunst, Galerie 59, Aschaffenburg.
Castellani & Manzoni, Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome, Italy.
Proposition pour un jardin, Festival d'Orsay
Zero. Edition, Exposition, Démonstration, Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
Internationale Malerei 1960-61, Ordens-Schlolss, Wolframs-Eschenbach.
Nove tendencije, Galerija Suvremene Umjetnosti, Zagreb.
In villeggiatura da Pescetto, Galleria Pescetto, Albisola Capo (Savona), Italy.
Avantgarde 61, Städtisches Museum Trier, Treviri.
XII Premio Lissone, Palazzo del Centro del Mobile, Lissone, Italy.
Mostra collettiva, Galleria Prisma, Milan, Italy.
Exposition dato 1961, Galerie Dato, Frankfurt, Germany.
Zero, Galerie A, Arnhem.

1960
La nuova Concezione artistica, Azimut, Milan, Italy.
Miriorama 1, Galleria Pater, Milan, Italy.
Neue Malerei, Galerie des Kleintheater, Bern.
Castellani Manzoni. A New Artistic Conception, New Vision Centre Gallery, London.
Monochrome Malerei, Städtisches Museum, Schloss Morsbroich, Leverkusen.
Circolo del Pozzetto, Padua, Italy
Contemporary Italian Art, Illinois Institute of Design, Chicago.
Mostra collettiva, Azimut, Milan, Italy.
Castellani Maino Manzoni Pisani Santini, Circolo degli Artisti, Albisola Mare (Savona), Italy.
Galleria Trastevere, Rome, Italy

International Abstract Painting Exhibition, The Shen Sheng Pao Press Building, Taipei.
Internationale Ausstellung von Nichts, Hamburg

1959
Bonalumi Castellani Manzoni, Galleria del Prisma, Milan, Italy.
Bonalumi Castellani Manzoni, Galleria Appia Antica, Rome, Italy.
Zero, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring. Rotterdam.
Dynamo 1, Galerie Boukes, Wiesbaden.
Zero, Galleria Hessenhuis G58, Antwerp.
Bonalumi-Castellani-Manzoni, Galerie Kasper, Lausanne.
Microsalon, Kunstamt Berlin-Charlottenburg, Berlin.
Prix Suisse de Peinture Abstraite, Galerie Kasper, Lausanne.
Orez, Internationale Galerij, L'Aia.
Zero, Galleria Appia Antica, Rome, Italy.
Azimut, Milan, Italy

1958

Fontana, Baj, Manzoni, Galleria Bergamo, Bergamo & Circolo di Cultura, Bologna, Italy.

L'avanguardia. Galleria Montenapoleone, Milan, Italy.

Arte italiana contemporanea, Galleria d'arte Selezione, Milan, Italy.
Galleria Pater, Milan, Italy
Mostra collettiva, Galleria del Prisma, Milan, Italy.

1957

Manzoni, Verga, Sordini, Verga, Sordini. Galleria Pater, Milan, Italy.

Prima Mostra dell'autoritratto. Galleria del Grattacielo, Milan, Italy.

Arte Nucleare 1957. Galleria San Fedele, Milan, Italy.

V Mostra Mercato dell’Arte , Galleria Schettini, Milan, Italy.
Albisola Marina (Savona), Italy

Mostra di giovani pittori al bar Giamaica, Bar Giamaica, Milan, Italy.
VII Mostra Mercato dell'Arte, Galleria d'arte Selezione, Milan, Italy.

1956

Quarta Fiera Mercato. Mostra d’Arte Contemporanea. Castello Sforzesco, Soncino, Italy.

Premio di pittura San Fedele. Galleria San Fedele, Milan, Italy.