David Hockney is
undoubtedly one of the best British artists of the 20th century, and
has a long established fascination with the depiction of landscapes. Working most recently on huge canvases
filled with bright contrasting colours, his work is vibrant, bold and exciting.
Thinking outside
the traditional painter’s box, Hockney has been drawing on an iPhone since 2008,
eagerly graduating to the iPad in 2010. Using a simple £6 app called Brushes, his
initial infatuation with iPhone drawing was the ability to send finger-drawn images
to friends, usually of flowers, or the view from his window. This became an
almost daily habit, and led to his recent ‘Fresh Flowers’ exhibit, which involved
drawings made on the electronic devices that were projected onto screens.
His latest
exhibition, ‘The Bigger Picture’, is comprised of work from the last few years;
a range of vivid large-scale paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape
and created especially for the Royal Academy. Using an iPad proved invaluable
for creating these works, as they are made up of multiple panels, the size of
which allow the viewer to really get lost in the scene portrayed. A series of
films have also been produced, using 18 cameras and multiple screens set up in
the gallery, which will show an artistic journey through the eyes of Hockney
himself. It’s a great example of how technology and artistry can combine to
create new ideas – and, at 74, Hockney also proves that you’re never too old to
get to grips with an iPad.
‘David Hockney:
A Bigger Picture’ opens at the Royal Academy on 21st Jan and runs
until 9th April. Advance booking is strongly recommended. For more
info, visit http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/
My grandpa went to art school with David Hockney and was his 'big brother' type mentor for one of the years. Apparently he was lazy, never handed in his portfolio on time and the professors said he would never amount to much... Little did they know! There's an anecdote for you!
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