NEVER BEFORE SEEN DAVID HOCKNEY ARTWORKS
A major David Hockney exhibition entitled Living in Colour has opened at Halcyon.
Living in Colour is one of the largest collections of David Hockney graphics in the world, consisting of over 150 works, and has never been seen in public before. Works span six decades of the career of Britain’s most celebrated living artist.
Living in Colour, courtesy of Halcyon
Living in Colour, which consists of more than 150 works, is also open at its gallery in Harrods. Spanning six decades of his illustrious career, the works date from 1961 to 2018, and include his iconic pool images, self-portraits, portraits of friends, still lifes and landscapes.
Hockney’s power is in his virtuosity as a draftsman and colourist and his appreciation for the everyday.
He paints the world around him with bright, bold colours and a restless desire to experiment, epitomising the American modernist Philip Guston’s definition of art as ‘serious play’.
As an artist, Hockney has always embraced the latest technological innovations. In the 1980’s he harnessed photocopy machines as part of his practice and, more recently, the iPad, which he uses to capture the world as he sees it - through the technicolour guise of the digital age. Visitors will discover various iPad drawings, providing a rich insight into his unique exploration of this new medium.
Living in Colour, courtesy of Halcyon
Living in Colour also displays Hockney’s activity in the medium of photographic collage, an area of his oeuvre that is sometimes overlooked but in which he was pioneering, experimenting with unique perspectives and compositions.
The exhibition provides a window into Hockney’s personal life: views of his studios, household objects, portraits of friends, family and his beloved dachshunds - these works document his life and travels from Yorkshire to California.
Two figures Hockney has captured particularly frequently are Gregory Evans, his former lover and Celia Birtwell, a celebrated textile designer and lifelong friend
The exhibition features two exceptional portraits of these individuals. These large-scale, vibrant, idiosyncratic portraits are from the Moving Focus series (1984–1987).
Living in Colour, courtesy of Halcyon
Visitors will discover works from the Moving Focus series, which is perhaps his most ambitious and experimental output of prints, consisting of portraits, landscapes, interiors, and still lifes. Through this body of work, the artist explored unconventional methods of articulating space, as if the subject is captured from multiple viewpoints, rendering his sitters with an electric feeling of dynamism.
These works are notable as a demonstration of his masterful use of colour and as a pure expression of Pablo Picasso’s impact on his work. Hockney acknowledges this impact in two pieces that he created in 1973, which hang in the exhibition. In The Student, Homage to Picasso and Artist and Model, the artist represents himself confronting his idol, the pioneer of cubism.
Hockney’s pools are some of the most memorable images of the 20th century – visitors will find a number on display - with iridescent pools, complete with sharp geometry, that illicit an irresistible temptation to dive in. Created whilst living in LA, these works have come to symbolise the exuberance and sense of freedom associated with the city.
David Hockney’s work is celebrated globally and exhibited in the most prestigious museums, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tate Britain, London.
David Hockney: Living in Colour is open at Halcyon’s flagship space at 148 New Bond Street and at Harrods.