Angelo Bellobono's 'Trappola Calanco del Rio Tradito' at MAXXI L'Aquila

Angelo Bellobono presents 'Trappola Calanco del Rio Tradito' as part of the 'Un'opera a settimana' series by ArtsLife, where artists select and discuss a single work from their oeuvre. The piece belongs to the 'Mappa Appennino' project (2020–2022), which explores fragility, tension, verticality, and natural/anthropological erasures. It was featured in a solo exhibition at MAXXI L'Aquila, a museum in the capital of the Apennine region. Bellobono describes a 'calanco' as a condition of extreme geological instability—a mountain disintegrating back into the sea. He placed his canvas on the Rio Tradito in Val Samoggia for several days to capture signs of this process. The 'trap' (trappola) is not negative but a device to gather painterly cues. Bellobono views painting as a primary necessity, a bodily practice that reconnects him to nature, altering his perception of landscape through physical and contemplative effort. He states, 'I paint to return home. Painting is my map made of sweat, wind, cold, sun, ascents and descents.' The work reflects his method of embedding himself in the environment, allowing the landscape to guide his marks.