Roman Artist Marco Manzo Protagonist of an Event at the MoMA in New York
An AI Video to Present 22 New Unpublished Works and the Manifesto of Contemporary Artistic Tattooing
On June 19, 2026, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York hosted a prestigious event dedicated to the Atlas of Contemporary Art, an internationally recognized publication produced by START Group, official partner of the MoMA. The Atlas serves as an essential reference for scholars, curators, collectors, and art professionals worldwide.
A central focus of the event was the artistic research of Marco Manzo, the renowned Roman artist, tattoo artist, sculptor, designer, and visual artist whose work has significantly contributed to the international recognition of contemporary artistic tattooing as a form of contemporary art.
Marco Manzo and the Atlas of Contemporary Art
The Atlas of Contemporary Art includes an excerpt from the Manifesto of Contemporary Artistic Tattooing, a groundbreaking text through which Marco Manzo explores one of the most relevant issues in contemporary culture: the recognition of tattooing as an autonomous artistic language, a certifiable work of art, and a cultural heritage worthy of preservation, study, and enhancement.
The section dedicated to Marco Manzo was curated by Stefania Pieralice, contemporary art curator and scholar, and was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. Through her presentation, Pieralice traced the evolution of Manzo’s artistic journey and highlighted the milestones that have redefined the role of tattooing within the contemporary art world.
Among these achievements were his artistic performances, participation in the Venice Biennale, exhibitions at the Vittoriano Complex, and the acclaimed exhibition Tattoo Forever at the MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, considered a pivotal moment in the dialogue between tattooing and major cultural institutions.
AI Video-Art Performance and the Presentation of 22 New Unpublished Works
One of the highlights of the MoMA event was the world premiere of an innovative video-art performance created with Artificial Intelligence technologies. The project brought to life in three dimensions the celebrated 66 radiographic plates created by Marco Manzo for the Venice Architecture Biennale.
These works were later exhibited at Art Basel Miami, while several artist’s proofs from a private collection were almost entirely donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The AI-driven projection represented a poetic and technological reinterpretation of Manzo’s artistic vision, demonstrating how innovation and artistic expression can coexist within contemporary art practices.
The performance also unveiled 22 previously unpublished artworks, presented alongside a Carrara marble sculpture carved from the same block used by the artist to create the renowned Maddalena Pacificata, preserved in the Church of Miracles in Piazza del Popolo, Rome.
From this same marble block, Marco Manzo also created the celebrated series of 20 sculpted hands exhibited at the Venice Art Biennale.
The Manifesto of Contemporary Artistic Tattooing
The climax of the event was the complete presentation of the Manifesto of Contemporary Artistic Tattooing, of which the Atlas of Contemporary Art publishes a first excerpt.
Through an open letter addressed to international museums and cultural institutions, Marco Manzo proposes a revolutionary vision of tattooing: no longer merely a body decoration, but a living artwork capable of being studied, preserved, archived, certified, and collected.
Within the Manifesto, Manzo announces the creation of the Marco Manzo Catalogue Raisonné and the Marco Manzo Archive, two instruments designed to document, collect, and certify his artistic production.
This initiative introduces a comprehensive certification system aimed at ensuring authenticity, traceability, protection, and cultural recognition of contemporary artistic tattooing.
Tattooing as Collectible Contemporary Art
The vision outlined in the Manifesto extends beyond the artist’s personal journey. Marco Manzo proposes a broader framework through which deserving tattoo artists may see their works certified, archived, and recognized according to shared international standards.
From this perspective, contemporary artistic tattooing can become a fully collectible art form, capable of entering both private and public collections through processes of protection, documentation, and enhancement comparable to those adopted for painting, sculpture, and other established artistic disciplines.
The Manifesto of Contemporary Artistic Tattooing represents one of the most significant theoretical and institutional innovations in contemporary art. Unlike the historical manifestos of the twentieth century, designed for mass circulation, Manzo’s Manifesto becomes an exclusive artwork itself, limited to only five copies.
Within this framework, tattooing is definitively recognized as an autonomous artistic language through the concept of “sculpture in motion,” where the human body ceases to be a simple support and becomes the artwork itself.
Official Signing at the MoMA in New York
A particularly significant moment occurred during the official signing of the Manifesto at the MoMA by Marco Manzo and Fabio Finotti, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, an institution of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The signing took place with the official logo and patronage of the Institute, establishing an unprecedented institutional acknowledgment of tattooing as a contemporary artistic expression.
Through certification systems, archives, and digital technologies, the Manifesto also addresses the biological limits of the human body, making artistic tattooing preservable and historically documentable over time.
This vision aligns with Manzo’s broader research as an “Architect of Time and Philosopher of Eternity,” focused on creating works designed to transcend centuries and even millennia, expanding the concept of artistic creation beyond human lifespan.
Marco Manzo Between Art, Body, and Contemporary Thought
The event also highlighted the cultural and social significance of artistic tattooing. During previous institutional initiatives connected to Manzo’s work, the Vicariate of Rome publicly recognized tattooing as a contemporary artistic expression, contributing to its legitimization within cultural and institutional discourse.
Through his internationally acclaimed ornamental style, developed together with Francesca Boni to enhance and redesign the forms of the body, and through the introduction of the concept of Mental Tattoo, Marco Manzo continues to explore the relationship between body, art, and contemporary society.
His artistic practice combines craftsmanship and conceptual research, proposing a vision in which aesthetic beauty and intellectual reflection coexist as inseparable dimensions of the creative process.
The idea becomes drawing. The drawing becomes body. The body becomes sculpture. The artwork transcends matter and returns to its original state: thought.
This is the artistic journey that Marco Manzo brings to New York, presenting contemporary artistic tattooing as a language fully integrated into the international contemporary art debate and reaffirming its place within the cultural institutions of the future.
