NARRATOR:  

This is “Demetra,” by Luciano Fabro. You might wonder why a loop of steel cable joins these two enormous blocks of stone. But look a little closer. Carved into the stone, you’ll see a gigantic pair of sensuous, faintly smiling lips. Fabro’s work, though utterly contemporary, is also strongly linked to Italy’s classical past. Gary Garrels, Curator at the Museum.  

GARY GARRELS:  

I don’t believe that there is a kind of universal, international, contemporary style of art. In fact, Italian art tends to have qualities that are quite Italian. The Italian sense of poetry, of allegory, of myth, is deeply, deeply embedded in the culture. 

NARRATOR:  

Demetra, the goddess of the earth in ancient Roman mythology, symbolizes the fertility of the whole natural order. According to legend, her daughter Persephone was taken from her to live in the underworld for half of every year. Demetra’s grief during those six months brought winter to the planet.  

In this sculpture, Fabro seems to suggest that these stony, inaccessible and disembodied lips are all that remain of the goddess. Even if we wanted to approach her for a kiss, we have become too alienated by modern life to hope for such intimacy with the natural world.