HUMANISM AND LARCENY

Lorenzo Valla, a thorough and intrepid researcher for L'Osservatore Romano has blown the lid off  Currado Malaspina's recent exhibition, Palimpsest. Although he viewed the show rather favorably, he noted that much of the work bore a striking resemblance to documents and manuscripts from the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana.

One example comes from what scholars call the "Thomas Moore Talmud."

Palimpsest #988, Currado Malaspina

Take a look above at Palimpsest # 988. Small script obscuring floating figures is a pictoral strategy used to great effect in Currado's work. Dating back to his famous early series "The Secret Growth of Doves," Malaspina has incorporated texts of dubious provenance in much of his works-on-paper. The introduction of conspicuously unobstructed nudes is something new that begins to appear in the Palimpsest pieces.


Valla's discovery is the previously unknown Tractate X. This incredibly beautiful 17th century fragment from the Thomas Moore Talmud is so similar to Malaspina in style as well as substance, it is hard not to conclude that he savagely appropriated a pre-existing image. Surely he hoped - unjustifiably it turns out - that no one would notice.


Grazie Lorenzo!!

Tractate X from the Thomas Moore Talmud, 1679

EGO MICHI NON PLACEO

The Palimpsest series is a group of close to 1700 drawings that were produced between May 1996 and September 1997 when my friend Currado Malaspina was recovering from a near fatal diving accident.

The works which are all meticulously constructed through an intricate process of layering, burying, scraping, resurrecting, redrawing, revising, sublimating, surfacing, gouging and excavating are relatively weak when seen individually. After all, the work was grounded in a mindless though necessary process of physical and mental rehabilitation. They were more like heroic attempts by Currado to regain his ability to walk, feed himself, think cogently and go to the bathroom with dignity.

Palimpsest #1326, Currado Malaspina 1997

The drawings have recently been assembled - no small feat in light of the fact that they have been dispersed for over a decade among countless private collections and about a dozen museums. The credit goes to Francesco di Marco Datini, chief curator of drawing and prints at the Obscurum Phantasiae Nationali in Turin. He single-handedly secured the loans of over 1500 of the works and the impact of seeing all these images at once is truly staggering.

Currado was visibly moved at his opening. It was the first time I have seen him humbled, gracious and self-effacing. As we parted company I kissed him on both cheeks. He held me for a few extra uncomfortable seconds, long enough to whisper in my ear:

"I don't like myself."

Charisma? .... I don't see it ...

Aardashini Tasawwuf, the devastatingly beautiful actress and fashion model has been a permanent fixture at the Malaspina atelier for the past several months. How this withered, decrepit Frenchman  attracts such gorgeous women into his circle of admirers is beyond comprehension.

Aardashini Tasawwuf on the set of Leopards, Cricket and the Lost Ring of Tabir, 2011

She was with him at the opening of his most recent exhibition, Maquettes pour le Marquis at Gallerie Claude Pierre-Or on rue Galilée.

Aardashini Tasawwuf at the opening of Maquettes pour le Maquis, Paris

And he was with her in Kolkata where she was working on the forthcoming Tagore Production feature Leopards, Cricket and the Lost Ring of Tabir.

Aardashini Tasawwuf in her dressing room

 Malaspina was even able to cajole her agent into allowing her to appear in his latest video, which as a result, went viral on YouTube India.

You go figure ...