David Hockney’s artistic career is a testament to his innovative spirit and willingness to experiment with new technologies, from Polaroids to iPads.
David Hockney’s artistic career spans decades, during which he has consistently pushed boundaries and experimented with new technologies to create innovative works of art.
David Hockney is a British artist known for his contributions to the Pop Art movement.
Born in 1937, he studied at the Royal College of Art and emerged as a prominent figure in the 1960s.
His works often feature swimming pools, Los Angeles landscapes, and portraits of friends.
Hockney's artistic style has evolved over time, incorporating various mediums such as painting, printmaking, and photography.
He is also known for his experiments with digital art, creating iPad drawings that blend traditional techniques with modern technology.
Hockney’s affinity for consumer technology is well-documented. He has used everything from Polaroid cameras and fax machines to photocopiers and, most recently, iPads to produce thousands of artworks over the years. This accessibility to technology has allowed him to become a fixture in modern art collections worldwide.
Hockney’s earliest experiments with photography date back to the 1980s, when he began creating Polaroid collages. These ‘joiners‘ expanded the canvas through collage techniques, allowing Hockney to produce panoramas or portraits with an animated, cinematic effect. In works like ‘Mother, Los Angeles, December 1982’ , images tilt and overlap, creating a Cubist-like effect.
In the present day, Hockney continues to experiment with photography and collage, incorporating himself and his friends into Lynchian skewed rooms with impossible dimensions. He uses Photoshop to achieve uncanny compositions that blur the lines between reality and fiction. In ’25th June 2022, Looking at the Flowers’ , people, paintings, and furniture are digitally composed into one space, losing their depth and throwing off our understanding of figure-ground relationships.
In the 1980s, Hockney began working with fax machines, photocopies, and laser printers. He purchased multiple copy machines to create the ‘Home Made Prints’ series, which showcased his ability to achieve new textures through layering inks and experimenting with color transitions.
Hockney’s recent iPad drawings have been met with skepticism by some, who see them as unremarkable. However, it is clear that the artist is searching for the medium’s limits, playing with pointillist mark-making, algorithmic jitter, and brush opacity.
The Palm Springs Art Museum’s retrospective exhibition, ‘Perspective Should Be Reversed: Prints by David Hockney from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation,’ features over 200 mass-produced prints that make a credible case for reclassifying Hockney as a printmaker rather than a painter.
David Hockney’s artistic career is a testament to his innovative spirit and willingness to experiment with new technologies. From Polaroids to iPads, he has consistently pushed boundaries and expanded the possibilities of art. The ‘Perspective Should Be Reversed‘ retrospective exhibition is a must-see for anyone interested in the evolution of modern art.
