[Tom Phillips died on 28 November 2022. Here is a piece I wrote on Phillips’s great work, A Humument, for the London Review of Books, ten years ago.] On a Saturday morning in November 1966, Tom Phillips picked a book at random from a pile of novels at a house-clearance sale in Peckham Rye. Phillips had never heard of W.H. Mallock’s
This is easily the best appreciation of the achievement of A Humument I have ever read. I can never understand the snobbery about Tom Phillips that emanates from certain quarters, as if obsession, repetition, boundless imagination, and a sense of fun were somehow infra dig for a *serious* artist.
What a shame there won't be any more. I will now always regret not taking up my invitation to the 2017 RA Summer Exhibition "varnishing day", where I could have introduced myself (we'd shared a few emails and blog comments) and pestered the man for a selfie.
The Phillips archive is at the Bodleian. Not sure which one it was, but an American book artist extended Phillips' idea to cutting through sections of the book to produce a sculptural version. Phillip’s donated it in 2020. Many thanks for this close appreciation of "A Humument". Cheers, Robert
This is easily the best appreciation of the achievement of A Humument I have ever read. I can never understand the snobbery about Tom Phillips that emanates from certain quarters, as if obsession, repetition, boundless imagination, and a sense of fun were somehow infra dig for a *serious* artist.
What a shame there won't be any more. I will now always regret not taking up my invitation to the 2017 RA Summer Exhibition "varnishing day", where I could have introduced myself (we'd shared a few emails and blog comments) and pestered the man for a selfie.
Mike
The Phillips archive is at the Bodleian. Not sure which one it was, but an American book artist extended Phillips' idea to cutting through sections of the book to produce a sculptural version. Phillip’s donated it in 2020. Many thanks for this close appreciation of "A Humument". Cheers, Robert
Wonderful to read this - thank you