Male narrator Curator, Judith Keller.
[subtle rhythmic percussion]
Judith Keller What we’re seeing is the artist herself, Nicola Costantino, in front of two sides of beef. She is deliberately posing herself to recreate several very well-known pieces of ancient sculpture, the Venus de Milo being probably the best known.
[music ends]
Male narrator The ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty is typically shown naked, covering herself modestly with her hands. Costantino conjures another reference by positioning the sides of beef to appear like wings.
Judith Keller The title is Winged Nicola or Nicola Alada. So she is in her own title referring to a representation of a winged goddess, and that would likely be the goddess Victory, or Nike. In her figure as a goddess, she is representing in herself European civilization.
Male narrator Yet, Costantino stands on a dilapidated wooden stool, not a pedestal. And her wings are far from angelic.
[music resumes]
Judith Keller The sides of beef represent not just wings, but the business of cattle in Argentina. It is a country of vast fertile land like the United States, and cattle are part of the origin of its foundation and its first progress as a modern country.
So I think that in a way, this represents our theme of civilization and barbarism, in one composition.
[music ends]
Male narrator The Old World comes together with the New; Victory’s wings are made from Slaughter; Beauty stands with Death. The work invites us to see how seeming opposites are powerfully enmeshed — and how they have been historically determined.
