Canto XXVI: [no title] 1983

Editor: This is "Canto XXVI" by Esq Tom Phillips from the Tate. It feels… dreamy, like looking up at stars through water. What leaps out at you about it? Curator: Those fleurs-de-lis puncturing the field, for starters! They’re like historical markers in a personal sky. Phillips often wove literary and historical references into his work. Do you get a sense of depth, or is it all surface? Editor: I see both, actually. The dark background suggests depth, but the repeated floral patterns flatten it out. Curator: Precisely! It’s a dance between the intimate and the infinite, don't you think? He invites us into his world, and then reminds us it’s all a constructed reality. Editor: That tension makes it so engaging! Thanks for pointing that out.