Guggenheim

David Hockney

15 May - 30 Sep 2012

David Hockney
Woldgate Woods, 21, 23 & 29 November 2006, 2006
Courtesy of the artist
Oil on 6 canvases
182 x 366 cm
© David Hockney / Photographer: Richard Schmidt
DAVID HOCKNEY
A Bigger Picture
15 May - 30 September 2012

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture presents a group of recent works by the noted British artist that were inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape. Approximately 200 pieces, most of which are large-format creations from the past six years, will be displayed alongside selected works produced between 1956 and 2000, which evidence Hockney's tireless research into and fascination with the landscape.

In the nine paintings of Woldgate Woods, the four large paintings of Three Trees Near Thixendale-each consisting of eight panels-and the series entitled Winter Timber and Hawthorne Blossom, Hockney celebrates the familiar landscapes of his Yorkshire childhood. In 1997 he returned home to embark on an indefatigable exploration of this scenery in each different season. The freedom of painting en plein air and the use of conventional oils is palpable in these works, though Hockney obviously continues to use his camera as both a tool and a medium, which is why the show also includes new films shot with 9 and 18 digital cameras. The works in this exhibition will reveal Hockney's debt to the past, which he understands and studies extensively, as well as his insatiable fascination with new visual technologies and techniques.
 

Tags: David Hockney