12/19/16 - A new video by American artist Bill Viola describes the life of Virgen Mary in a modern and renovated version. On three screens shaped like crosses, we see two women representing the Virgin. One of them has her head clean-shaven and is breastfeeding. The other is more similar to the traditional image of Western culture, similar to the Pietà. At the same time we see moments in the life of the Virgin, as a kind of life and death cycle.

According to Viola, the Virgin is the personification of the femininity related to giving birth, internal strength, love and compassion and this is what is represented in the video-installation, using Christian symbols as the lamb, the veil and the praying position.

Mary, by Bill Viola (2016)

On the other side of the altar of this Anglican Cathedral, globally known for the marriage of Lady Di and Prince Charles, there's another installation, from 2014. But they complement each other perfectly. In this one, entitled "Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)", the artist shows us four figures, one tied by the legs, the second harassed by wind, the third burned with oil and the forth buried alive. Viola wants to show us, with modern images, the vexations inflicted to Christian martyrs in the past. In spite of these sufferings, Viola's figures don't lose their physical form as the martyrs of the past wouldn't abandon their faith, for they believed that after that dark hour, with death, they'd see the light.

Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), by Bill Viola (2014)

For Viola, these pieces work in two ways: as objects of Contemporary Art and as practical objects of contemplation and traditional devotion. The truth is that the Cathedral, which charges an expensive entrance ticket, is now attracting a different type of visitors, those devoted to contemporary art.