Archive Note
Marco Manzo is an Italian tattoo artist based in Rome, widely described as a precursor of the ornamental style. He opened his Tribal Tattoo Studio in the Via Cassia area of north Rome in 1992, one of the first tattoo and piercing studios in that part of the city. His signature is a fine, dense, jewelry-like blackwork that draws on Venetian lace, macrame, Victorian chandelier forms, oriental fabrics, and mandalas, often composed as corset, back, and body pieces; the work is bespoke and labor-intensive, with a full back running from sixty to a hundred hours, and he develops the detailing in collaboration with Francesca Boni, who fits each design to the client's build. Manzo is repeatedly credited among the first to carry tattooing into contemporary art museums, presenting "Tattoo d'Haute Couture" at the MAXXI museum in Rome and curating "Tattoo Forever" at MACRO, Rome's contemporary art museum, with his clients appearing as living installations. His clientele has included the actress Asia Argento.
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