Inferno VIII 1967

Editor: This is Sir Sidney Nolan's "Inferno VIII," currently residing at the Tate. The raw, unsettling imagery, with its distorted figures, hits you right in the gut. What am I missing here? What do you make of it? Curator: Nolan was always plunging headfirst into the darkest corners of the human condition, wasn’t he? Dante’s Inferno was ripe for his picking! The bodies seem to bleed into each other, a swirling vortex of pain and perhaps, a distorted sort of unity in suffering. Notice the bold strokes, the almost violent application of color…it screams of torment, wouldn’t you say? A visual echo of Dante's verses. Editor: Absolutely, that bold rawness is what stood out to me. I hadn't considered the unity aspect, though, but I see it now. Thanks!