Massao Mascaro
Sub Sole
Sub Sole (Latin for under the sun), an ensemble of photographs taken in the Mediterranean region between 2017 and 2020, follows the mythological route of Odysseus’ journey: Ceuta, Naples, Athens, Palermo, Istanbul, Tunis and Lampedusa. Crossroads of cultures, cradle of founding myths – today more than ever, the Mediterranean is characterised by migration, exile and displacement. Over the course of seven journeys and numerous chance encounters, Mascaro embarks on a search for the young people who inhabit and traverse this region. The literary narratives that the artist drew on for his work are like invisible companions to these photographs. They lend the contemporary images an ancient substance. Political, economic, existential and poetic implications intersect under the sun, under the harsh, hot Mediterranean light, the rhythm of which determines human life.
Biography
After his first degree at ESA Le Septante Cinq in Brussels, Massao Mascaro studied photography at the Blank Paper School (now Dinamo Visual Lab) in Madrid and graduated in 2016. Since 2019, Massao Mascaro has been teaching in the photography department at the Brussels art academy ESA-ARBA.
At the intersection of autobiography, topography and politics, his work revolves around places and the notion of territory: the Calabria of his ancestors (Ramo), the streets and parks of Madrid (Jardin) and the Mediterranean coast (Sub Sole). His work is deeply political, as it is based on the need to examine the relationship of man to the spaces (cultural and geographical) he inhabits.
In 2016, the work Jardin was honoured with the BOZAR Monography Series Award. In 2017, he was nominated for and participated in the TIFF of FOMU Antwerp. In July 2019, his first book Jardin was published by Witty Kiwi and L’éditeur du dimanche. In 2021, Massao was part of the Louis Roederer Discovery Award during Les rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles. In September 2021, he presented the exhibition “Sub Sole” at the A Stichting foundation in Brussels. In 2021, the book Sub Sole was published by Chose Commune.