Biagio Caldarelli: First Posthumous Retrospective in Bari

The Pinacoteca "Corrado Giaquinto" in Bari opens "Errare è umano", the first major retrospective dedicated to Biagio Caldarelli (Bari, 1951-1999), 27 years after his premature death. Curated by Paola Marino and organized by the Valentina Bonomo gallery in collaboration with the Metropolitan City of Bari, the exhibition runs from October 2, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and brings together 160 works documenting Caldarelli's brief but intense career. Caldarelli, who graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bari in 1976 and served in the Navy, was championed by gallerist Marilena Bonomo, who introduced him to artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Sol LeWitt. His work drew on diverse sources, including maps, nautical charts, and classical art, as well as the 19th-century Apulian painter Francesco Netti, with whom he shared an obsession with the frieze of the necropolis of Ruvo di Puglia. Caldarelli's collaborations included a 1984 three-person show with Boetti and Cucchi, and a later dialogue with Boetti titled "Sedici accordi a tre mani". The exhibition, directed by Micaela Paparella, highlights Caldarelli's eclectic style, which spanned mythology, classical art, Surrealism, Arte Povera, and Transavanguardia.