Hockney I: Andipa, London
“The eye is always moving; if it isn’t moving you are dead. The perspective alters according to the way I’m looking, so it’s constantly changing." David Hockney
Andipa Gallery is delighted to present an exhibition dedicated to one of the most celebrated living artists, David Hockney. The wide-ranging and enduring appeal of Hockney’s prints is seen in a range of airy, pastel interior scenes that breathe life into the world of the domestic. As well as demonstrating the artist’s technical virtuosity, the works in ‘Hockney I’ pay tribute to the artist’s artistic inspirations and heritage in printmaking.
One of the most widely known and seminal works in the exhibition, Van Gogh’s Chair directly references Gogh’s oil painting of the same name. Hockney’s sparsely coloured version is rendered in his characteristic ‘reverse perspective’, where an object is shown from different angles as if it is moved around, rather than from a fixed point. Hockney admired Van Gogh’s original: ‘The perspective is terrific.. You couldn’t take a photograph like this. I’ve always loved this painting’. Proclaiming the potential of art in relation to perspective, Hockney goes a step further than Van Gogh.
Two Pembroke Chairs, from the artist’s much acclaimed ‘Moving Focus’ series,is a jagged montage of shape and line that recalls the tradition of Cubism. The influence of Picasso on Hockney is well documented, with the artist having been rumoured to have visited his exhibition at the Tate eight times. A most explicit example of Hockney’s admiration for his fellow artist is found in Artist and Model, in which Hockney sits across from Picasso and is his model.
‘Hockney I’ offers a carefully selected number of works that make for aesthetic enjoyment and inspiration in their sensuousness and rich detail. But more than that, they show Hockney’s all-important contribution to the medium of printmaking.
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Discover our selection of David Hockney prints.