“Absence and the void can be synonymous with emptiness, nothingness, vacancy. But what if we decide to see this space of absence as full of potential?" A new exhibition Tracing Absence is the culmination of a year-long programme of discussion and exploration, curated by the 2022 cohort of the MA Curating Art and Public Programmes, jointly run by Whitechapel Gallery & London South Bank University. This display, drawn from the Christen Sveaas Art Foundation, explores the many facets of absence, such as void, or loss, silence or formlessness, and encourages confrontation with discomfort, and reflection both on and in emptiness. Central to the curatorial process was a desire to communicate absence through abstract ideas and forms. Pictured here is one such example of this, a photorealistic painting by the contemporary British artist, @jameswhitestudio. The viewer encounters a series of painted reflections that lay absent of presence, calling into question the seeming mundanity of empty space by suggesting a narrative beyond of the frame. From next week you’ll be able to listen to the curators develop the theme of absence on episode 18 of Hear, Now, a Whitechapel Gallery podcast, in which they address the absence of representation for minority artists, as well as the concept of absence as portrayed through photography. Tracing Absence is on until 2 January. Find out more via the #linkinbio Image Credit James White, Mirrored, 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne and Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels