David Hockney Bradford Born Painter

David Hockney RA exhibition of 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life can be seen at the Royal Academia from 2 July – 2 October 2016

This representation of David Hockney’s work reflects many of his interests and insights.
His mother Laura is the central theme as she remained throughout her life.
The photo-collage method was created in the 1980 whist David was touring America and his collages of the Grand Canyon and Zion Canyon, Utah are on display at Salts Mill Saltaire.
These collages challenge conventional ways of looking at art and are just one of the innovations David has brought to the public’s attention. David has been keen to engage with his audiences in colourful and communicative ways.

Mini Biography

• Born in Bradford on 9th July 1937 of Bradford parents.
• ‘From an early age David Hockney had a desire to be an artist. At the age of 11 he won a scholarship to Bradford Grammar school. In the
• first year he purposefully came last in the form so that he would be able to study art – (reserved for non academic boys)
• At the age of 16, he was able to leave and devote himself to art. He studied at the Bradford School of Art then The Royal College of Art in London.’
• He was a conscientious objector during national service.
• His brother Paul Hockney was one time Lord Mayor of Bradford.
• After London life, post college David moved to New York and then Santa Monica in California where he produced much of his Oeuvre including swimming pool series and paintings of lithe young men.
• Read more at Biography online

Current Works

Hockney’s largest painting, ‘Bigger Trees Near Warter’, which measures 15’x40′, was hung in the Royal Academy’s largest gallery in their annual Summer Exhibition 2007. It is currently on display at York Art Gallery until 12 June 2011.
The work is the largest David has produced and “is a monumental-scale view of a coppice in Hockney’s native Yorkshire, between Bridlington and York. It was painted on 50 individual canvases, mostly working in situ, over five weeks last winter.”
In 2008, he donated this work to the Tate Gallery in London, saying: “I thought if I’m going to give something to the Tate I want to give them something really good. It’s going to be here for a while. I don’t want to give things I’m not too proud of…I thought this was a good painting because it’s of England…it seems like a good thing to do” The Times

Other Hockney Bits

Hockney’s Garrow Hill is a depiction of the rolling Yorkshire Moors, streams and patchwork fields. It will be used at the Chelsea Flowers show by Kate Dundas and Esther Kilner as the inspiration for their garden exhibit.

Art in Yorkshire is a  celebration in 19 galleries throughout Yorkshire of works from the Tate collections.

The Hockney Gallery in Saltaire has many works on display and a large range of products available to purchase. I particularly like the early opera sets on the top floor.

Me Draw on i-pad was an exhibition in Humblebaek Denmark until 28 August 2011

Sources

Biography on line
Picture from memaporg on flickr under creative commons license Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
David Hockney official web site with current projects
Hockney Rebel