David
Hockney’s swimming pool paintings are among the most popular
images of the 1960s. He attained world fame as a flamboyant
figure of “swinging London” and as a chronicler of the cool
California way of life. His oeuvre also encompasses perceptive
portraits, virtuoso still lifes, and landscapes, as well as
photo collages, stage sets, and the smart handling of
art-historical phenomena. Over the decades, all this has earned
him a place among the world’s leading contemporary artists.
Hockney’s multifaceted work always remains fresh and never
ceases to surprise. While working in California, Hockney began
to concentrate on the perception of space and the vastness of
the landscape, absorbing the latter into panoramic images of the
Grand Canyon. In recent years, he has focused his creative
attention on landscape painting. As early as 1997 he began
contemplating leaving Los Angeles and returning home to rural
East Yorkshire. In 2005, Hockney relocated permanently to the
UK, settling down in the coastal town of Bridlington, surrounded
by plentiful woodland and a predominantly agricultural
hinterland. This is where he created a variety of wonderful
landscape paintings. Mostly painted directly from nature, these
works enable the viewer to approach them immediately at the same
time that they retain a high degree of painterly sophistication.
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David Hockney
"A Closer Winter Tunnel,
February - March", 2006, Oil
on 6 canvases, each 91,44 x
121,92 cm, total
182,88 x 365,76 cm © David
Hockney, Collection Art
Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney, Photo: Richard
Schmidt |
Simultaneous with his traditional
painting, some time ago Hockney began experimenting with
touchscreen drawings. With the aid of the iPad Brushes app, he
recently started to design images on his iPad; their incredible
liveliness is fascinating. Some of these pieces will be
presented for the first time in Cologne. Distinguished by their
special luminosity, they will be shown directly on touchscreens
and as large print-outs, constituting a considerable portion of
the exhibition. Additionally, Hockney has recently turned his
fascination with landscape to the production of impressive
multi-focus films. The special recording technique that he
developed projects onto eighteen interconnected monitors,
resulting in a uniquely intense viewing experience. The
complexity of the exhibition reveals an artist who lends totally
new impulses to the classical theme of landscape painting. The
combination of Hockney’s extraordinary competence and the new
stimulus he brings to these works reveals his deep devotion to
the visible world and to beautiful things.
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David Hockney
"Winter Timber", 2009, Oil
on 15 canvases, each 91,44 x
121,92 cm, total 274,32 x
609,60 cm, © David Hockney,
Photo: Jonathan Wilkinson |
This show is based on an exhibition
entitled David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, originally
curated by Marco Livingstone and Edith Devaney for London’s
Royal Academy. Over 150 works will be on view at the Museum
Ludwig. Stephan Diederich is the responsible curator here,
working closely with the artist himself.
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David Hockney
"The Arrival of Spring in
Woldgate, East Yorkshire in
2011(twenty eleven)"
one of a 52 part work, Oil
on 32 canvases, each 91,44 x
121,92 cm, total 365,76 x
975,36 cm, © David Hockney,
Photo: Jonathan Wilkinson |
650,000 visitors came to see the
David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, which
ended there on April 9. From October 27, 2012 until February
3, 2013 the slightly altered show will be on view at the
Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Tickets for this venue are now on sale
online:
www.koelnticket.de,
www.museum-ludwig.de, or by
phone: +49-221-221-2801
The exhibition is supported by
Rolex.
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