New this month:

PICTURES FROM POSTCARDS: SOURCE MATERIAL : Postcards from Tom's collection

HUMUMENT : Pages 91-120

TRICK OR TREATMENT : A 1988 Interview with Tom by Steve Xerri

1 February 2001

Verdi Verdi Verdi!

The mailbag this month has served as a reminder that humankind is celebrating the centenary of Guiseppe Verdi. One correspondent, inquiring about the dates of Tom's upcoming show in Fort Worth, Texas (more info to follow next month), writes, "The web site is superb and the collages are captiviating. But where is Verdi?"

As you may know, the English National Opera staged Tom's English-language translation of Otello in 1997. Tom also designed the sets, and the production took place in [place]. Should I have included images from the programme? Of course! Will they be in next month's edition of tomphillips.co.uk? Of course!

Interestingly, Verdi found his way into another email, but solely as the point of origin. A writer in Verdi, Minnesota (pop. XX), wonders if Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, might have enjoyed some co-parenting from Tom and Canadian artist Bill Hurrell.

Included in the email was a quote from Bill's preface to the catalogue of Tom's 1992 retrospective at the Royal Academy, discussing the presciently Web-like aspects of Tom's work:

All the works are autonomous. Their themes are distinct yet none exists without reference to the other. Linking and overlapping makes them part of a greater whole. It is this web of interrelationships that fascinates their maker who would claim that his true work lies at the center of that web, the mystical unsaid residue left when all has been accounted for.

That's a quote I love; it underscores the gracefulness of the web as an exhibition space for an artist like Tom. The links in each piece are a jumping-off point that take you other wonders, that in turn link onward to even more wonders. The postcards featured this month are a perfect example. As mentioned in Tom's essay accompanying Postcard Compositions, postcards supplied a major source of narrative, reference, and pictorial analogy for more than twenty years. The links in that essay whisk you to related paintings, drawings, portraits, collage, and photography. It thrills me to realize that the 'mystical unsaid residue' is something now within reach of anyone with interest and a web connection.

Those folks are out there, and it's my great pleasure to hear from them. One who wrote this month, Steve Xerri, has known Tom for years, and conducted an interview with him in 1988. He generously provided the text of the published article and permission to reprint it, and it's a joy to offer it here. Tom lets loose with some wonderful thoughts, and recaps an auspicious meeting with William S. Burroughs. Thanks Steve.

Thanks all! Warmest wishes!
JOHN NICK PULL, editor.