Nicola Costantino Reimagines Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights

Argentine artist Nicola Costantino (born 1964 in Rosario) is creating a contemporary version of Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights" for the 500th anniversary of the painter's death. Costantino, who debuted at the 1998 São Paulo Biennial with her "human leather" collection, has evolved through multiple media: from sculptures of animal fetuses ("chancho bolas") to photography in 2007 with photographer Gabriel Valansi, and video in 2010. Her 2013 video installation on Eva Perón at the Venice Biennale she calls her most difficult work, requiring her to confront six decades of Evita's political legacy. For the Bosch homage, Costantino appears only four times, centrally as a Botticelli Venus with carcass wings, surrounded by human and animal figures. The work incorporates contemporary anxieties, including a burning Jerusalem, reflecting the fear of war in the Middle East. Costantino distinguishes her self-portraits from selfies, which she calls narcissistic and police-like, emphasizing careful curation and privacy protection, comparing herself to Cindy Sherman. She cites Frida Kahlo, Francesca Woodman, and Ana Mendieta as influences. Her future challenge, she says, is representing a man, the most distant subject from herself.