Luisa Badino (Pisa, 1990) obtained a BA and an MA (2016) in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. In 2015, she spent a semester at the University of Applied Arts (Angewandte) in Vienna, in Judith Eisler’s Painting and Animated Film class. In 2014, she joined the artist collective Fondazione Malutta, and in 2017 she co-founded the artist-run space Zolforosso. In 2025, she obtained an MA in Artistic Research at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague.

Her research focuses on creating disorienting and seductive traps in multifaceted painting installations, exploring mechanisms of attraction and illusion through layered oneiric and hermetic objects. She approaches these dynamics as prey, while drawing inspiration from everyday screens, childhood memories, and the traces left on surfaces from trickster’s archetypes.

She lives and works between Venice and Rotterdam.

Thomas Braida (Gorizia, 1982) is an Italian painter who lives and works between Venice and Dobbia. His practice is characterised by a dense, layered figurative language in which grotesque and symbolic elements merge with scholarly references and dreamlike visions. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 2010 under the guidance of Carlo Di Raco, Braida developed an extensive exhibition career that has led him to show his work in major institutions and galleries in Italy and abroad, including MAXXI, Museo Nazionale Concordiese, GAM Torino, and Monitor (Rome, Lisbon, Pereto), as well as art fairs such as Liste Basel and Art Brussels.

His work alternates between large pictorial cycles and more intimate installations, often tied to the natural world or to personal iconographies. His recent production reveals an increasingly metaphysical and poetic reflection, as in the exhibitions “Matematiche notturne” (2023, Monitor Lisbon) and “Tacciono i fiori” (2025, Monitor Rome).

Cofounder of Fondazione Malutta, Braida complements his individual practice with a strong collective vocation, taking part in experimental projects, workshops, and residencies that intertwine painting, life, and storytelling.

Clelia Cadamuro (b. 1995) is an Italian visual artist and photographer based in Venice. Initially trained as a painter, she currently works mainly with photography, but still maintains a painterly approach to design. The combination of these disciplines allows her to explore the interpretive nature of the two-dimensional image but also to investigate the deeper implications of images beyond their surface. In her research, the ambiguity and contrasts of the eternal conflict between nature and artifice often emerge.

Ornella Cardillo (Modena, 1993) lives and works in Venice. She graduated in Visual Arts and Fashion at IUAV University of Venice, and in 2023 she was a co-director finalist at the Biennale College Teatro. In 2022, her work was exhibited at the Documenta Stadt in Kassel, and in the same year, she won the Bevilacqua La Masa artist residency in Venice.

A multidisciplinary artist, she expresses her practice through the intersection of art and theater. Her works are conceived as “moving sculptures” that, coming to life in space, become the protagonists of performances and installations. Her artistic research focuses on the relationship between form and time, exploring the shapes of a place as signs, traces, and voices of time: like writing, they narrate events. The forms are deconstructed and recomposed to create sculptural silhouettes understood as the habitus worn by the character in question – conceived as a projection of being and a staging of a particular existential condition. “Forma” (from the Latin, meaning “bearing” and “containing”) – to show and to hold within – and “Logos” (from the Greek lego, meaning “to connect” and “to put together”) guide the creation of these characters, representing their archetype.

Born in 1992 in Belgrade (ex Yugoslavia), painter Nina Ćeranić holds a BFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Known for her small canvases and works on paper, Nina explores themes of identity, memory, and perception related to body and object. Her work has been displayed at MONITOR Gallery, Tommaso Calabro Gallery, AplusA Gallery. She currently lives and works in Venice, both as a solo artist and as member of the collective Fondazione Malutta.

Nebojša Despotović (Belgrade, 1982) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, attending Atelier F and becoming one of its key figures. In 2011, he was an artist-in-residence at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and took part in the Academy’s Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale.

In 2012, he won the Euromobil Under 30 Prize at ArteFiera Bologna and the Mango Young Artist Award at the Swab Art Fair in Barcelona. The following year, he received both the Celeste Prize and the Raw Zone Award at ArtVerona. In 2016, again at ArtVerona, he was awarded the Rotary Prize. In 2019, he was among the finalists of the Cairo Prize (Palazzo Reale, Milan).

In 2014, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples hosted the talk “Still Life of Nebojša Despotović”, curated by Angela Tecce and Eugenio Viola. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as Galerija Ulus (Belgrade), Obalne Galerije (Piran), Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa (Venice), Galleria Civica (Trento), Museo Santa Maria della Scala (Siena), Bauhaus Universität (Weimar), Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti (Verona), MUSE – Museo delle Scienze (Trento), Casa Testori (Novate Milanese), Museo Civico (Bassano del Grappa), and Villa Manin (Codroipo).

In 2015, TRA – Treviso Ricerca Arte presented “La pelle del serpente”, a dual exhibition featuring Nebojša Despotović and Enzo Cucchi. In 2020, the Ettore Fico Museum in Turin dedicated his first institutional solo exhibition to him, “The Golden Harp”, curated by Andrea Busto. In 2025, he will hold his second institutional solo exhibition, “Tutte le nostre vite”, at MART – Galleria Civica in Trento, curated by Danielle Capra and Gabriele Lorenzoni.

Between 2017 and 2023, he collaborated with various galleries in Italy and abroad, including Boccanera Gallery (Trento/Milan), Non Canonico (Belgrade), Car (Bologna), Triangle (Moscow), and Ierimonti Gallery (New York). He lives and works between Treviso and Venice, where he teaches painting techniques at the Academy of Fine Arts where he once studied.

Enej Gala lives and works between London, Venice, and Nova Gorica. He holds a BA and MA in Painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and completed the Royal Academy Schools in London.

His practice explores materiality and otherness through puppetry, sculpture, and installation, questioning traditional perspectives on art, craftsmanship, and other forms of production. Gala has exhibited at Toast Project Space, Almanac, TJ Boulting, and Marlborough Gallery, among others.

Riccardo Giacomini (Motta di Livenza, 1988) graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 2013. From 2015 to 2021, he taught painting at Boston University Study Abroad in Venice. He collaborates with Fondazione Malutta, contributing to various projects and exhibitions in Italy and abroad, and with artist Giulia Maria Belli on illustrated books that combine fantasy with reality.

Ketty Gobbo (Treviso, 1999) earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sculpture in 2021 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. In the same year, she participated in the exhibition “Due mesi di Carta” at the Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro in Venice. In 2023, she was selected for the National Arts Award in Carrara for the exhibition “Cultura materiale_Cultura dei materiali”. In 2024, she completed her Master’s Degree in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, leading into 2025 with the exhibition “New Art Frontiers” at the Altro Mondo Gallery in Manila, Philippines. She currently lives and works in Venice at the “Ex Bar Dadino” studio near San Marco.

Bogdan Koshevoy (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, 1993) is an artist based in Venice, Italy. He began his artistic journey in Dnipropetrovsk, where he received his initial training. Later, he pursued painting courses at the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, before continuing his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where he completed his studies. He is a member of art collective Fondazione Malutta.

While remaining firmly anchored in a realism-inspired approach, Koshevoy creates landscapes that incorporate fantastic, sometimes disturbing, and at times grotesque elements. In these works, the atmosphere is often pervaded by a sense of unease, which accompanies the revelation of recent tragedies, capturing them at the very moment they occur, or even anticipating impending catastrophes. Landscape has long been a central theme in Koshevoy’s work, leading him to explore a variety of visionary perspectives, which unfold through his distinctive palette. However, the apparent stillness is frequently disrupted by what the artist defines as “unknown events” – inaudible yet disturbing forces that shake the viewer and subvert any sense of predictability.

His recent exhibitions included: “Unknown Events”, Barvinskyi Art Gallery, Vienna, Austria; “The roof is on fire” , Weber&Weber, Turin; “Hôtel-Dieu”, A plus A Gallery, Venice; “CRASH”, JoyStick, Venice; “Antares”, Magazzini del Sale, Venice; “Fondazione Malutta in spazio”, Spazio Contemporanea, Brescia; “Devyanostie”, Cassina Projects, Milan.

Edison Pashkaj (1988, Pukë, Albania) lives and works in Venice. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice with Carlo Di Raco and creates works ranging from large textile-based canvases inspired by his
Albanian heritage to miniatures echoing Safavid and Boschian styles. Drawing on Albanian folklore and world mythology, his characters are often animals, and his preferred subject matter is nature. It is in his careful renderings of swallows, plants, trees, and flowers that Pashkaj’s abstracted relation to reality emerges. The more precise his denotations, the closer they are to pattern, the farther from reality, and yet they remain true to their subjects. This interplay between texture, pattern, and representation is typical of an artist formed in an ancient Illyrian cultural cradle, equally at home in the virtual imaginaries of video games or visions of life in other galaxies. Apocalyptic imagery prevails, conveying a sense of premonition about war and catastrophe. His art merges texture, pattern, and representation, reflecting both ancient roots and modern digital imaginaries.

Cristina Porro (1993, Padua) currently lives and works in Venice. In 2019, she received her Second-Level Diploma in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice with professor Di Raco (atelier F). Among her most recent activities is the ‘Venice Time Case’ project, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, and the exhibition ‘Antares’ at Magazzini del Sale in Venice, curated by Carlo Di Raco, Martino Scavezzon, Atelier F and Daniele Capra.

Barbara Prenka (Gjakova, Kosovo, 1990) earned both her BA and MA in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, under the guidance of Professor Carlo Di Raco. She currently lives and works between Berlin, Bolzano, and Venice.

Her solo exhibitions include “Covers”, curated by Zef Paci at Arthouse Shkodër (2025); “What time is it between my fingers?” at A plus A Gallery, Venice (2025); “Covers”, also curated by Zef Paci, at the Gallery of the Ministry of Culture of Kosovo in Prishtina (2024); and “Dita e re” at the Kosovo Documentation Center in Prishtina (2023). Other significant exhibitions include “Where Touch Speaks Louder”, curated by Eva Comuzzi at Marina Bastianello Gallery, Mestre (2022); “Drifting on the Echoes”, in collaboration with Alessandra Novaga and curated by Giulia Guanella at Spazio Lampo, Chiasso, Switzerland (2022); and “Shelter Lines”, curated by Edoardo Monti at Palazzo Monti, Brescia (2021), where she also participated in the Palazzo Monti residency. Prenka has received numerous awards, including the Euromobil Under 30 Prize at ArteFiera Bologna (2015), the Emerging Art Prize at the Francesco Fabbri Prize for Contemporary Arts (2014), and the Combat Prize for Painting in Livorno (2014).

Recent group exhibitions include “Ventaglio”, curated by Valerio Nicolai at Clima, Milan (2025); “Double Take”, curated by the School for Curatorial Studies Venice at A plus A Gallery, Venice (2024); “Re:nature”, curated by Sylvain Brugier at Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin (2024); and “The Event of a Thread – Global Narratives in Textiles”, curated by Susanne Weiss, Inka Gressel, and Hana Halilaj at the National Gallery of Kosovo (2024). She also took part in “Venice Time Case”, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero at Galerie Italienne, Paris (2022). In 2021, she participated in “For Some Bags Under the Eyes”, curated by Romain Sarrot at Sans Titre (2016), Paris, and “Make Me a Coffee, Make Me a Sandwich”, curated by Natalija Vujosevic at Galerija17, Prishtina. In 2019, she exhibited in “Etna & Paricutin” at Centro Cultural Antiguo Colegio Jesuita, Uruapan, Mexico. Previous participations also include Artissima, Turin (2018).

Dionysis Saraji (Venice, 2001) is a visual artist of Iranian and Greek heritage. He holds a BA in Visual Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including “Antropocentrie” curated by Luca Caccioni (Casa Saraceni, Bologna, 2025), “MONSTRA – una mostra prodigiosa” curated by Camilla Nacci (C.AR.M.E, Brescia, and Gallerie di Piedicastello, Trento, 2025), and “GOLD – While Flow’es and Trees do close To weave the Garlands of repose” curated by Elsa Barbieri (Museo Arte Contemporanea Cavalese, 2024). He also participated in ArtVerona 2024 with LABS Contemporary Art and regularly takes part in Opentour Bologna projects, collaborating with curators such as Luca Caccioni, Simona Pagano, and Leonardo Regano.

Among his recognitions are the Casarini Due Torri Painting Prize Under 30 at ArtVerona 2024 and the Zucchelli Art Up Award for Graphic Art/Illustration (Opentour 2025).

In 2024, she took part in the MEZZOMONDO residency curated by Art Motel and Adiacenze at Casa della Cultura Italo Calvino in Calderara di Reno (BO). His work has been featured in several publications and exhibition catalogues, including “MONSTRA – una mostra prodigiosa” (2025), “GOLD” (2024), “COMBAT Prize 2025”, and “ALLIEVE – Materia, corpo, spirito. Memorie, origini, legami” by Maria Chiara Wang for Arte Morbida (2023).

Pierluigi Scandiuzzi (Padua, 1993) graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Notable exhibitions include “Panorama Monferrato. Camagna, Montemagno e Castagnole”, a project by Italics, curated by Carlo Falciani; “Campo magnetico” (Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venezia), curated by Cristina Beltrami; “Salon Palermo 4” (Rizzuto Gallery, Palermo), curated by Antonio Grulli e Francesco De Grandi; “Oltre il sangue amaro” (MOCA, Brescia), curated by Giorgia Massari and Riccardo Valiati.

Mattia Sinigaglia (Lago di Garda, 1989) lives between Venice and the Emilian hills. He graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice under professor Carlo Di Raco. In 2025, he presents his solo exhibition “L’animale che dunque sono” at AplusA Gallery, Venice.

Maddalena Tesser (Vittorio Veneto, 1992) lives and works in Venice. She earned both her BFA (2015) and MFA (2018) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.

Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad, including Pittura Italiana (Triennale Milano, 2023), Where the Wild Roses Grow (Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, 2023), Venice Time Case (Galerie Italienne, Paris, and Galleria Tommaso Calabro, Milan, 2021–22), Giardino all’Italiana (Galerija Vžigalica, Ljubljana, 2022), and The Golden Harp (Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, 2020).

In 2024 she was among the finalists of the Premio Cairo (Museo della Permanente, Milan). In 2025 she will take part in I Pilastri (Fondazione Malutta, Venice), Daydreaming (Villa Filanda Antonini, Treviso), and Pintura Italiana Hoy (Triennale Milano and Istituto Italiano de Cultura de Buenos Aires).

Emiliano Troco studied Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, after which he began to focus primarily on themes of naturalism, evolution, and geological time – understood as subjects to be explored through artistic practice. Since 2012, he has run a publicly accessible studio where, in addition to producing and directly selling his works, he welcomes visitors and illustrates the relationship between art and science.
He collaborates with paleontologists, museums, and natural science universities. His works are mainly executed in oil on canvas or panel, as well as in ink.

As an artist, he does not shy away from editorial projects (among which Tempo Profondo – The History of Life on Earth stands out) nor from exploring other subjects, often completely different in both topic and audience. He’s a member of the collective Fondazione Malutta.

Aleksander Velišček (Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia, 1982) is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Gorizia. He graduated in Visual Arts and Performing Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 2010 and has since built an international career marked by residencies, awards, and exhibitions across Europe.

In 2012, he was an artist-in-residence at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in Venice and in the same year received the Testori Prize. He has since participated in major residency programs such as Viafarini (Milan, 2015), Dolomiti Contemporanee (Borca di Cadore, 2015), and Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2015). Among his most notable exhibitions are “Shit & Die”, curated by Maurizio Cattelan, Myriam Ben Salah, and Marta Papini (Turin, 2014), and his contribution to the Albanian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

In recent years, Velišček has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy, France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria. Recent projects include “100th Anniversary of the University of Trieste”, curated by L. Michelli, Castello di San Giusto (Trieste, 2024); “Fondazione Malutta in Spazio”, curated by Spazio Contemporanea (Brescia, 2023); and “Cajtnot”, Vila Vipolže (Goriška Brda, 2023). His works are included in prestigious public and private collections such as the collection of the University of Trieste (2024), zbirka KB Delniška Družba (Gorizia, 2023), and zbirka Obalne Galerije Piran (Piran, 2022).

He is a co-founder of the collective Associazione Fondazione Malutta.

Velišček’s work explores social, political, and cultural themes, with a continuous investigation into identity and the relationship between memory and the present.

Maria Giovanna Zanella (Schio, 1991) earned her First- and Second-Level Diplomas in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, living between Venice and Milan. Her recent activities include group exhibitions such as “Salon Palermo 4” at Rizzuto Gallery; “Le diable au corps” at Bonelli Gallery; “Humana” at Gaburro Gallery; “Antares” at Magazzini del Sale, Venice; and “Venice Time Case”, a traveling exhibition/project curated by Luca Massimo Barbero. She has also presented two-person shows including “Noi che siamo 2”, with Maddalena Tesser at Adiacenze, Bologna, and “Deus e macine”, with Luisa Badino at Spazio Joystick, Venice. Among the residencies, she has taken part in Viafarini, Dolomiti Contemporanee, and Mediterranea at the MACC Museum in Calasetta.

Since childhood, she has fought to build a better world where one can be naked and expose themselves. In her work, the experience of alterity is captured as an encounter with otherness in all its richness. The disruptive force of forms exceeds and challenges the abstract mass of the flat body, the frontier of a closed individuality that does not mingle with other bodies and with the world. The juxtaposition between the seemingly dichotomous spheres of animality and romantic love is swept away by the simple, primordial taste of touching and exploring, which reveals the pursuit of an ‘existential nakedness’, where the nuances of the human condition manifest in their titanic fragility and beauty.