David Hockney

From photographic collage to facsimile drawings, copier-machine offset printing to computer generated images, David Hockney has nurtured a lifelong fascination with using new technology to make pictures. In 2008, Hockney acquired his first iPhone and quickly became consumed with the device’s drawing applications. Its portability afforded him the ability to create anywhere, at any time, and without restriction. With the stroke of his thumb, all colour and markmaking effects imaginable were at his command. Early subjects included domestic settings, like the sunrise from his bedroom window, or the floral arrangements decorating his home. “I draw flowers every day on my iPhone and send them to my friends, so they get fresh flowers every morning,” said Hockney. “And my flowers last.” But what began as impromptu sketches shared with friends and family, soon became a vital means for Hockney to study and capture the world around him.

As Hockney’s proficiency with the software app heightened, so did the complexity of his drawings. By transitioning to an iPad in 2010, the artist could employ a larger screen, and use all of his fingers as well as a stylus pen to make images. “I thought the iPhone was great, but this takes it to a new level – simply because it’s eight times the size of the iPhone, as big as a reasonably sized sketchbook,” Hockney said of the iPad. Working in situ with the touch screen as his blank canvas, Hockney layered stroke upon stroke of colour to convey the texture, light and presence of his chosen subjects that range from a glass ashtray and a pair of bathroom robes, to playful self-portraits of varying expressions.

Works from this series were first presented in Hockney’s solo exhibition Fresh Flowers (2010) at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, France, where the drawings were displayed on iPhones and iPads -- providing viewers the opportunity to see the works on the devices in which they were produced. They were subsequently shown in David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition (2012) at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA in 2012, followed by David Hockney: Current (2016) at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. In April 2018, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will present David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still Life, an exhibition of portrait paintings depicting close family and friends. The artist embarked on this series to commemorate his recent 80th birthday. LACMA is the final venue for this traveling exhibition, which originated at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, and went on to the Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, Italy and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain.