Work of Art

The Calligrapher Replies I

Creado
1987
Artista
Nacionalidad
Británico
Nacimiento/Muerte
1937-
Dimensiones
38 3/4 x 61 1/4 in. (98.4 x 155.6 cm)
Medio
Crédito

Comprado con fondos de varios donantes, por intercambio

Número de objeto
Cultura
Clasificación
Departamento

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Tom Phillips maintains an interest in letterforms and language. Some of his earliest works prove that words can be pictures. For those 1960s paintings, Phillips used packers’ stencils. Years later, inspired by a trip to Japan, he switched to calligraphy. Suave rejoinder to the blocky stenciled series, The Calligrapher Replies I is painted out in elegantly entangled longhand arabesques.

The painting invites and resists interpretation. Viewers can pick out a word here, a phrase there. But the artist never intended that anyone decipher what he calls his “stream-of-consciousness” text. He has intentionally entrapped the content within the written maze, making illegible language a style. His work testifies to both the difficulty of communication and the power of art to deepen understanding.

 

Tags: contemporary, line, shape, letters, writing

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