Marina Abramovic, Holding Emptiness (From the Series With Eyes Closed I See Happiness), 2012

The relationship between Marina Abramovic’s photograph and the Pietà immediately opposite is one of quiet yet momentous consequence. The Virgin holds the dead Christ, an archetype of every mother, an image of universal suffering while the artist holds emptiness. The photograph does not present the artist holding nothing but rather the full weight of emptiness is there for us to behold.