Marco Manzo at Santa Maria dei Miracoli: A Fusion of Contemporary Art and Biblical Texts

“Marco Manzo at Santa Maria dei Miracoli” is the title of the installation path, organized by “Il Cigno GG Edizioni”, which will be set up in the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Piazza del Popolo, Rome) from March 21 to August 31, 2024. Entrance is free. The vernissage will take place on Thursday, March 21 at 7:00 PM in the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Piazza del Popolo, Rome), while the press conference will be held during the morning, at 11:30 AM, always in the same basilica. In addition to the artist Marco Manzo and Lorenzo Zichichi from “Il Cigno GG Edizioni”, don Giuseppe Lorizio, director of the Culture Office and the Liturgical Office of the Vicariate of Rome, and Father Ercole Ceriani, rector of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, will intervene. White Carrara marble works will be set up, hands of women and men that testify to violence against women (works from the 58th International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale), plus some unpublished works: the white marble sculpture “The Pacified Magdalene”, the “Glorious Cross of Miracles”, which will be acquired in the artistic heritage of the same church. A monumental “Glorious Cross of Miracles”, about 4 meters high, made with mixed technique and materials, and two installations depicting two hands, “The Hands of the Crucifixion”. “Marco Manzo, contemporary tattoo artist and sculptor - explains Father Ercole Ceriani, rector of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli - through refined realizations investigates human feelings and in particular the theme of violence against defenseless victims. In the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Piazza del Popolo, Marco Manzo's sculptures are accompanied, in surprising and perfect harmony, by biblical texts. Even if written in ancient times and in culturally distant environments from ours, the biblical quotations, like Marco Manzo's work, testify to a lived experience that unites the experience of being human of all times and places. In history, as in life, one encounters indecipherable events, many questions remain unanswered and often the accounts do not add up: the victim appears defenseless in front of the arrogance and the cry for help remains in perpetual expectation of an answer. Despite everything, the biblical texts, like the sculptures of Marco Manzo, are permeated by a stubborn and radical trust in a possibility of redemption and salvation”. The proposed path through the works of Marco Manzo in the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli documents a surprising harmony between the works of the contemporary artist and the biblical texts. “The contemplation of violent hands and loving hands accompanies our path, because everyone can look at their own hands and ask themselves if they are a source of suffering or consolation for others, not only for those we love, but especially for the destitute of the earth that we meet on our journey - declares Giuseppe Lorizio, director of the Culture Office, Vicariate of Rome -. And it is a “good news”, which concludes with a pacified woman at the foot of the cross, who is the one to whom the Risen One will first reveal Himself, we dare say she is the first redeemed, “Apostle of the apostles”, fled from Calvary. The hands intend to hold back the beloved Lord, but he withdraws from a bond that would prevent him from carrying out his mission, accomplished at the moment when he allowed himself to be embraced, crucified, by Mary Magdalene and redeemed her with his infinite and unconditional love. On this human and divine mystery we are called to reflect while contemplating the works of Marco Manzo exhibited in a church that recalls the miracle of love and invites to human and Christian conversion. Even those who no longer believe can indeed be involved in the dynamism of this humanity that expresses violence, tenderness, embraces, and salvation”. Marco Manzo, visual artist, tattoo artist, sculptor, and designer, operates both in the field of design and sculpture. Throughout his career, he has successfully brought his signature also to the world of tattooing, a sector of which he is a precursor and main exponent, particularly of the “ornamental style”: by combining various styles, he has managed to contextualize his production in various museums of contemporary art. Manzo has the merit of having elevated tattooing to an art form, thus marking an important milestone in the history of art. “The ornamental style, of which I am recognized as a precursor - explains Marco Manzo - has as its main purpose to redesign the body or the sculpture, elongating the forms and accentuating the strengths. The starting point is therefore the body and not the design. Thanks to the study of individual anatomy, the tattoo does not become the departure to which the body must adapt, but a consequence of the body itself. It is from this that the design is born”. The artist has exhibited at MAXXI and MACRO in Rome, institutions where his works were presented as “expression of contemporary art and high fashion”, and where with the great exhibition Tattoo Forever, this exhibition saw him not only as an artist but also as a curator and legitimized together with the Cultural Heritage, the Municipality of Rome and the Museum of Contemporary Art, the tattoo as a new form of art. Furthermore, Manzo's works have entered, in various capacities, the MoMA and the Gagosian Museum in New York. “The exhibition at Santa Maria dei Miracoli was strongly desired by the rector of the Church, Father Ercole Ceriani; meeting the convinced support of Monsignor Daniele Libanori, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rome for the central sector, the approval of Don Giuseppe Lorizio, director of the culture office, as well as the approval of the liturgical office of the Vicariate of Rome. I would never have imagined discovering that my artistic language could be in harmony with the biblical message - concludes Marco Manzo -. It was a happy surprise for me that opens up new artistic and human perspectives. For this I thank all those who have worked for the success of this event”.