Marcello Manca is a mixed-media portrait artist whose work fuses painting and photography on hybrid canvases which he constructs using disparate materials. 

Melting brushstrokes and photographic images into one another over layers of canvas, jute, cardboard and wood, Manca erodes the divide between subject and background,

between medium and support, with the ultimate goal of exploring an emotion and telling

the story behind it. 

 

     Born in Milan on July 11th 1962, Manca dabbled with paints and cameras since his earliest years, and in the mid 1980s embarked on a brief career in fashion photography.

The early 90s saw him paint his first large-format oil canvases, mostly colorful abstracts, while continuing to develop his black & white portrait photography skills.

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In the following years, he worked with a number of firms and design studios, where he acquired advanced digital editing skills as well as a penchant for human interaction, both of which he would later put to use in his portraiture.

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     Beginning in 2009, he committed himself full-time to his work as a portraitist, and soon developed the ethereal and emotive style which helped establish him as a unique presence on the Milan art scene.

 

His works have been shown at important venues throughout Italy, including museums and galleries in Lecce, Rome, Como and Milan. He has been commissioned artwork by important corporate clients, and has painted portraits for a number of high-profile figures from the worlds of sport and entertainment.

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     During the opening of the 2015 Milan EXPO, he was invited to show his work at a special private event, where he also presented his portrait of Andrea Bocelli to the tenor himself, who was in attendance with his wife Veronica Berti.

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One of his most major project is Prague Palindromes, a series of 120 canvases for MH Suites Palace, a new designer hotel in the Czech capital.

 

Marcello Manca currently resides with his family in northern Italy,

near the shores of Lake Varese.