Hockney II: Andipa, London
"I believe that the very process of looking can make a thing beautiful." - David Hockney
'Hockney II’ is the second exhibition dedicated to David Hockney to be held at the Andipa Gallery. Hockney’s career spans over six decades and he is one of Britain’s most celebrated living artists: this exhibition focuses on his interiors from the period of 1969-1988. Coupling the intimacy of the domestic with the natural world in still life, each print captures the Hockney’s reinvention of artistic perspective.
In ‘Hockney II’ the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Hockney’s stationary objects, such as Van Gogh’s Chair, convey a multiplicity of viewpoints. Similarly, Pembroke Studio Interior, from the artist’s aptly named ‘Moving Focus’ series, challenges space and the passage of time with its clever cross section of a scene in lively colours.
In combining angles, Hockney’s ‘reverse perspective’ honours a way of viewing that is experiential. Hockney draws upon the Cubist tendencies of Pablo Picasso whilst imbuing each picture with a realism that departs from it. It is one that ultimately turns the framing and boundary of pictures throughout Western art history, particularly of the ‘vanishing point’ in Renaissance painting, on its head.
Still life lithographs such as Amaryllis in Vase are a triumph of the artist’s printmaking. Still employing the same ‘reverse perspective’, its exuberant colours speak to the experimental style Hockney was exploring at the time in the studio of Kenneth Tyler in Los Angeles, who had also worked with Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein. Diverse examples in the medium of printmaking are also seen in this exhibition, from lithographs to Hockney’s home made prints on the copy machine, demonstrating the artist’s constant evolution and willingness to adapt his practice to technological advancements.
Through the exhibition is focussed on a twenty year period in the artist’s longstanding career, visitors will discover the legacy of Hockney’s ‘Moving Focus’ and etchings in his later work. The experimental approach to perspective and technical mastery showcased in the exhibition illuminates why the artist is so ardently admired in Britain and beyond.
For more information on any of the artworks featured and to buy original David Hockney Prints, contact Andipa Editions.
