Il Muro Fresco – Fresco Masterclass with Eolo Paul Bottaro

Mention the word fresco and most people immediately think of iconic images like that of Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel or Leonardo’s Last Supper. As a major art-form in the Renaissance, many in Australia including those involved in visual arts regard this technique as constrained to history, relevant to past European cultures that created the frescoes that adorn their churches and palazzi, rather than the inhabitants of our antipodean shores. This is evidenced in the scarcity of fresco painting in Australia, with few practitioners and little to no representation in contemporary art. Yet one Melbourne based artist has a very different view of this ancient technique, seeing its potential for art makers of today.

Making a fresco is a slow affair. The preparation can take days as lime is slaked and mixed with sand, then applied to the wall in stages. Paint made from pigment and water is applied quickly while the lime plaster is still wet so it is absorbed and becomes embedded in the surface. In short it is art built for permanence – like a visual antidote to the impermanence that pervades so much of the material output of our fast moving society. And herein lies frescoes importance for Bottaro. This is painting slowed down. Slow painting, like slow food, requires attention to every aspect of its construction, the process being essential to the finished result.

‘Il Muro Fresco’ will be a demonstrative workshop, and registration includes welcome breakfast and lunch.

Tickets can also be purchased for the Speaking Place Collaborative Dinner that evening.