Untitled 2011

This stark white-on-black image, Untitled, is by the French artist Jerome Mesnager. Mesnager's work, created in 2011, often appears in public spaces, engaging directly with the urban landscape. Here, we see a reworking of the traditional Pietà, a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus. What does it mean to repeat such a loaded image, and what cultural work is it performing now? Mesnager strips away the specific identities of the figures, rendering them as ghostly, almost archetypal forms. The absence of facial features invites us to project our own experiences of grief and loss onto the scene, in a way that promotes accessibility and universality. The stark contrast of light and dark amplifies the emotional intensity, highlighting the vulnerability of the body and the profound sorrow of the maternal figure. This piece reflects societal anxieties and the ever-present reality of mortality, reminding us of our shared human condition.