The book is the first in a special series of the 'Pesci rossi' (goldfish) series, jointly published with the Piero Manzoni Foundation. It comprises studies and research on various aspects of the artist's output and presents hitherto unpublished material and documents from the foundation's archives.
In the ‘fifties and ‘sixties, the little Ligurian town of Albisola, famous for its ceramics production, became a crossroads and a catalyst for international encounters and experiments in the contemporary art scenario. From childhood, Piero Manzoni spent a long time here each summer with his family, and soon discovered that it was a stimulating, inspiring place. After a detailed study of books, documents and personal testimonials about the artist, not only did it prove possible to reconstruct the time spent by Manzoni in Albisola and the exhibitions he held there in their historical context but, more particularly, to document a series of important friendships from his time there, also unpublished documents (old photographs, letters, autographs, and so on) providing further insight into the artist’s work. Through exceptionally rich illustrations and excellent content, the book describes the complexity of the relationships and motivations which contributed decisively to the increasing creativeness of one of the leading figures in the art scene of the second half of the 20th century.