Canto XXIX: [no title] 1983

Curator: This is Esq Tom Phillips’ "Canto XXIX," part of his visual interpretation of Dante's Inferno, rendered in a print roughly 29 by 20 centimeters. What strikes you first about it? Editor: It feels unsettling. The faces emerging from this fractured brickwork suggest a breakdown of order, a kind of social decay, maybe reflecting the chaos of hell. Curator: Indeed. Phillips often embeds potent symbols within his work. The arrangement of faces—some clearly distressed, others obscured—could signify the diverse sufferings and hidden identities within Dante's hell. Editor: And the shield-like shape in the center? Its heraldic symbolism seems deliberately corrupted, suggesting a failure of traditional power structures to provide moral guidance. Curator: Precisely. The fragmented nature of the brickwork emphasizes the disintegration of societal norms, highlighting the psychological torment experienced by the damned. Editor: Seeing it this way, the piece evokes a sense of moral crisis, where the individual and collective are fractured under systemic pressures. Curator: Phillips provides an enduring visual language for reflecting on historical and contemporary ethical dilemmas. Editor: It certainly provokes thought on power and suffering across time.