VBSS. 010. M (HOLY FAMILY), series: South Sudan

VBSS (Vanessa Beecroft South Sudan) is a project that was started in 2005 during a voyage by the artist in Sudan; in this project the subjects seem part of the local population. In certain pieces, the artist herself is portrayed as a white Madonna with two tiny black twins at her breast recalling her personal experience in orphanages in Sudan. Other works, like this piece donated to the Hospice, represents an iconic image of the Christian Holy Family, with St. Joseph, Madonna and the Christ child, but with the technical perfection typical of the artist’s work: strong formal balance and an almost obsessive attention to the composition of the figures in the group. The image of the white Madonna alongside a black St. Joseph and Christ child disrupts the concept of ethnic supremacy to become a symbol of universal union among races.