"The Breath of Empty Space," currently on display at MASS MoCA, examines police brutality and racism. The pieces are all by Brooklyn-based artist Shaun Leonardo, who uses manipulated charcoal drawings to reinterpret images of Black and Brown men and boys.
The images include representations of images like the beating of Rodney King, the body of Michael Brown, and a portrait of a widely shared image of Trayvon Martin.
It is not art that is easy to look at, and it didn't come to North Adams without controversy. It was meant to travel to Cleveland's contemporary art museum, but that was canceled after Black activists and museum staff objected to the work, saying it would be traumatizing for the community.
