Manuela Macco. Interdisciplinary artist, teacher, independent researcher, based in Turin (IT). Starting from her training, the constant interweaving between artistic production and theoretical reflection distinguishes her path, influencing artistic projects as well as curatorial and pedagogical ones. Graduated in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Turin, she studied painting, and she trained in contemporary dance and other movement techniques. Initially she experimented, for a few years, with her own body as a medium, exploring a genre of hybrid action between choreography and action art, then she delves into the more conceptual and visual elements, and she begins to research with different media (photography, video, action, drawing, text, installation) depending on the project.
In her research, characterized by a minimalist approach, she uses signs, gestures, words and materials from everyday life, to address issues relating to philosophy and language. Recognizing and experimenting the political value of personal experience, she investigates, through her work, the interdependencies between social change and the inner change of the individuals. Inspired by the radical lesson of the italian feminist Carla Lonzi, she considers "starting from oneself", understood as a political practice that produces an intimate closeness between being and thought, between body and mind, an essential approach to reflect on the social phenomena that define our contemporary world.
Manuela Macco has participated in numerous international residency programs, among these, in 2008 she attended Unidee Residency at the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella (IT). Her work has been presented through lectures and exhibitions in different galleries, cultural institutions and independent art spaces in Italy and abroad. From 2008 to today she has been a guest lecturer at various university institutions where she has conducted theoretical and practical seminars. She has collaborated among others with the Sichuan Art Institute of Chongqing (CN), with the ESAAA of Annecy (FR), with the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts and with the University of Turin (IT). As a curator she has created and organized events focused on action-art and exhibitions center on gender themes. In 2012 she founded the tpa (torinoPERFORMANCEART), independent international project and festival dedicated to action art. She is a founder and curator of emmagoldmanlab project, an open research laboratory, which, starting from the analysis of the texts of Emma Goldman and of other thinkers close to feminist and libertarian theories, develops experiences of relational aesthetics and participatory art.
For further information or to see the portfolio please contact: mail@manuelamacco.com - instagram