Piero Manzoni was born on 13 July 1933 in Soncino, (a village in the Po Valley of Cremona).
Growing up in Milan, he spent most of his summer days at Albisola Capo (a seaside resort on the Liguria Riviera), where he and his parents would meet up with Lucio Fontana, the founder of the Spatialism avant-garde movement. 
Making his debut in 1956 at the “Fiera Mercato” in the Castello Sforzesco of Soncino. The next year he went on to take part in the exposition “Movimento Arte Nucleare” at the Galleria San Fedele, Milan. in this point in time his works were…
anthropomorphic silhouettes
and canvases bearing imprints of ordinary everyday objects.
In 1958 Piero Manzoni exposed with Lucio Fontana, and Enrico Baj, the founder of the Nuclear Art. All in the same year he had begun the collaboration with two young artists, Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi. In 1959 they edited the first issue of “Azimuth”, an avant-garde magazine, and founded the art gallery Azimut, Which was run by Castellani and Piero
As time past Manzoni’s way of working became more radical. His mature works explored the possibilities and limitations of the painted surface.
Lines: single line drawings done on paper, sealed in a cardboard tube, and then signed by Manzoni
Bodies of Air: Balloon holds Manzoni’s breath
Sculpture Eggs: a simple egg signed by Manzoni’s fingerprint
Magic Bases: Pedestals people would stand on and become part of the art
But his most shocking gesture was still to come, he put up ninety cans of “Artist’s Shit” for sale for their weight in gold. Each with the net weight of thirty grams
Piero Manzoni passed away due to a fatal infection on February 6th 1963, in Milan.
Source : http://www.pieromanzoni.org/EN/biography.htm
Article by Brady Myers