SOME AREA!

For all the years that I've known Currado Malaspina, I have never heard him express any interest in politics. He has never, to my knowledge, voted in any French election; never participated in any maniféstation publique; never signed his name to a petition: never boycotted, expressed solidarity, sat-in, walked-out, struck, work-stopped or stood behind a barricade. Currado is so single-mindedly devoted to his artistic enterprise that any social or political involvement requiring even the slightest commitment would be unthinkable.

Until now.

Currado Malaspina is now an active, vociferous critic of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

 Why?

Two reasons:

 Reason One: For European artists, it is both de rigueur and professionally advantagous to be critical of Zionism. (see Elvis Costello, Roger Waters, Annie Lennox and Bosco Maretto).

Reason Two: He is dating the beautiful Dutch soprano, Nanoek Nabil, niece of Rayan Algosaubi, former information liaison of the PLHPC.

Nanoek Nabil in front of Sonji Operagebouw, Spaanshuisken, Netherlands

As an expression of his malcontent (as well as a vivid illustration of his underlying ambivalence, after all, what could possibly be more harmless than art), Currado has embarked on a new series of works addressing the thorny problems of the Middle East.

God is my Realtor ("Dieu est mon agent immobilier") is a series of portraits of Israeli members of the settler movement. Street prophets, messianists, religious fanatics, Russian immigrants, ideologues and soccer Moms looking for three-car garages in a country known for its cramped apartments and high rents are all the subjects of his wide-ranging sketches.

Portrait of Yocheved Har-Or Flieshman, Currado Malaspina, 2012


"I've come to love these people," Currado told me the other day on the phone from Tel Aviv, "unlike the French, their zealotry is an irresistible expression of magic and fatalism. They are probably the world's greatest performance artists."

I asked him if Nanoek felt the same way. "I have no idea," he said, "she spends all her time shopping on Sheinken Street, I barely see her."