#treffen
Malcolm Maso and his fresco technique
A new show in Venice at Aquaria Art Space
We interviewed Malcom Maso who is having a show in his native Venice at Aquaria, a new gallery space in San Polo.
What did you call this technique? Where does the idea come from?
The technique is screen printing on fresh plaster (serigrafia in affresco). It comes from the need to preserve the image — in this case of photographic origin — for as long as possible. The carbonation of the lime plaster guarantees very high durability. Pompeii, for example, is evidence that confirms the ability of fresco to withstand time: we can still admire the wall paintings even though they were subjected to the effects of a volcanic eruption.
What are the particularities of the materials used? What specific result were you looking for? How do these materials relate to the city?
Venice is certainly one of the last cities in the world built with extensive use of lime putty (grassello di calce), calcium carbonate aggregates — largely of Friulian origin — and pigments found throughout Italy in the form of natural earths or oxides. The result I was seeking lies in the relationship between light and matter: fresco allows light to enter and exit the crystals of lime and oxides, returning a luminous wave free of the interference and screening generated by petroleum-derived binders.
What are the practical difficulties in making screen printing on fresco?
The main difficulties are:
● assessing the degree of humidity and consequently preparing the fresco surface;
● the delicate balance between the quantity of pigments in the printing inks and the mesh of the screen. The effectiveness of the process derives from the timely synergy of all the elements involved in the printing process.
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What is “intonaco di sacrificio” (sacrificial plaster) and how does this term relate to the works on view?
The sacrificial plaster — the last, most exposed layer — is generally used on the lower parts and/or on the facades of Venetian buildings. Destined to crumble and then fall, its task is to protect the bricks from erosion caused by constant and inevitable exposure to salt efflorescence.
In the same way, the individuals imprinted in the frescoes, bearers of the memory of human existence — who we know existed without knowing their identity, deeds in life, or social rank — entrust themselves to the ability of fresco to resist time. Ordinary people who offer themselves in sacrifice to the memory of a time destined to vanish, and who may be the only testimonies of our passage destined to endure.
Who are the subjects of the photographs? Who are the photographers involved in the project?
The subjects are ordinary people, anonymous presences: lives not destined for the clamor of history, like saints or prominent figures. They are lives that constitute unknown stories, still present and to be told. The photographers who collaborated on the realization of this first part of the project are Giorgio Schirato and Yuma Martellanz, also members of the Difonico La Momon collective.
What is your next project?
The project Biblioteca dei Morti is in development; I plan to enrich it with a new series of portraits upon my return from New Zealand. In addition, always working on the concept of archiving, I am thinking about a project based on ancient, forgotten, disused, or buried terms of the digital era.
Malcom Maso is a Venice-based artist–craftsman and the founder of Slowbuilding, a project launched in 2010 that focuses on conservation and contemporary art production using traditional, natural, biocompatible materials — especially lime-based plasters and stuccos. Trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna in figurative arts/sculpture (1994–1999), he has worked for years in restoration and construction in the lagoon, combining site-management experience with a research-driven approach to lime techniques. Slowbuilding’s practice emphasizes reversible, durable, and restorable interventions, privileging lime putty and historic methods within an industrial building context. In recent years Maso has increasingly supported contemporary artists in the technical production of large-scale works, acting as a bridge between Venetian craft traditions and experimental art processes.
Aquaria Venice
Calle del Tentor 1841, 30135 Venice (VE), Italy
A hybrid gallery and cultural hub combining exhibitions with an events program, conceived as a laboratory for encounter and debate. Its curatorial line is interdisciplinary, focusing on identity, memory, and resilience, explicitly connecting Venice’s fragilities (mass tourism, depopulation, loss of identity) to global structural issues.
Aquaria is presenting a two-part inaugural program: Vittorio Marella’s Collezione Privata (3 July 2026–15 January 2027) and the Difonico La Momon project Biblioteca dei Morti (3 July — 15 October 2026), with Maso as technical lead.
The wider hub opened on 3 July 2026 and runs other shows into January 2027.
Biblioteca dei Morti closes on October 15.
