Liu Bolin
Beyond the Visible

A project dedicated to promoting Abruzzo, promoted by Geely Auto in collaboration with Galleria Gaburro, as part of L’Aquila Italian Capital of Culture 2026.

The Chinese artist performed and realized three new photographic works in L’Aquila, Rocca Calascio, and Pescasseroli from 11 to 13 June.
 

On the occasion of L’Aquila Italian Capital of Culture 2026, Geely Auto, one of China’s leading automotive brands, distributed in Italy by Jameel Motors, in collaboration with Galleria Gaburro, presents Beyond the Visible, a project by Chinese artist Liu Bolin, who will work in Abruzzo for the first time through a new series of site-specific interventions dedicated to highlighting some of the region’s most iconic locations.

Internationally renowned for an original artistic practice that combines performance and photography, producing highly recognizable images in which the artist camouflages himself until he merges completely with his surroundings, Liu Bolin will engage on this occasion with the monumental Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L’Aquila, the evocative Rocca Calascio fortress, situated at over 1,400 meters above sea level, and the ancient woodlands of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise in Pescasseroli. The latter intervention will be developed in collaboration with ARTEPARCO, a project that since 2018 has fostered dialogue between contemporary art and nature within the National Park.

Beyond the Visible unfolds through three public performances scheduled from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 June. Conceived as open events, they offer a unique opportunity for audiences to witness the artist’s entire creative process live, from the preparation of the body painting to the construction of the final image.

In each intervention, Liu Bolin will undertake a complex performative process of camouflage, progressively integrating himself into the surrounding architecture or landscape until becoming an invisible part of it. The performances will culminate in the creation of three new photographic works, the result of an action that investigates the relationship between presence and absence, identity and memory of place, offering a renewed interpretation of the Abruzzese landscape.

The three photographs will be featured in an exhibition opening in October 2026 at Palazzo Margherita, the historic building in L’Aquila that houses the city’s municipal headquarters.