The exhibition is a series of nine sculptures, seven of which are dioramas, by American artist Robert Taplin (born 1950) inspired by the fourteenth-century classic, Dante’s Inferno. There are thirty-four cantos in the poem, and Taplin uses the first nine to follow Dante in his journey through the first three of the nine circles of hell, led by the Roman poet Virgil. Taplin creates his own versions of the story by infusing contemporary nuances, situations, and personal references into his art works. Also on view are five wall-hung reliefs from his recent series Here and There.

Everything Imagined is Real (After Dante) is a set of nine sculptures based on the first nine cantos of Dante’s Inferno. Taplin spent six months re-reading the Inferno, drawing, taking notes and planning. He settled on a set of nine short verses, one from each of the first nine cantos, to serve as a springboard for what would become the exhibition. The idea was to construct a story parallel to the one Dante tells, following the emotional and the narrative progress of the original, but without the theology and metaphysics.

The exhibition was curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, with the artist Robert Taplin. A catalogue is available for purchase at the Harnett Museum of Art.