The Curatorial Backlogs #4 : Bigger and Closer (not smaller & farther away)
Artist : David Hockney
Show : Bigger and Closer (not smaller & farther away)
Location : The Lightroom : London, England
Date Seen: 21 March 2023
Price: £25
Run Time: 22 February 2023 - 1 October 2023
Sponsors:
Curators: David Hockney & Lightroom
“ It gives my art a new breath of life and a reinterpretation. And that, for me, is very exciting. ”
- David Hockney
David Hockney is a British artist who has been making art for sixty years. Hockney has developed and explored a range of mediums from drawing to photography to digital art. Hockney is most known for his paintings, both in traditional media and digital media, of bright landscapes and people. His vibrant style developed in the 1960’s with the pop art movement - moving from traditional media to digital but maintaining his bold use of color and mark making. Several factors contributed to Hockney's interest in the digital arts. It was a new medium to explore which would maintain vibrancy over time and not be affected by aging. It also let him continue making during bouts of poor health which prevented him from being able to hold paint brushes as easily and stopped him from working in his studio. As he has explored new media over his art career, he also explored new perspectives and ways of showcasing his art. The 2023 exhibition of his work at The Lightroom, Bigger and Closer (not smaller & further away) is yet another way in which Hockeny has sought to explore these ideas - it is both an expansion and a reflection on his previous works.
When experiencing The Lightroom’s exhibition of Hockeny’s work, one must digest a brief overview of Hockeny’s previous works and processes in a reimagined version of his previous art in a new space with more technology usage. The exhibition utilizes animation, projection, and audio in an attempt to fully immerse the viewer. Throughout the exhibit, Hockney’s voice discusses his process and the different eras of his work through new and archival interviews. Meanwhile, images of his paintings, drawings, and photographic work as well as animation, and pictures of his process are shown throughout the 55 min video. The exhibition is essentially a retrospective of Hockney’s six decade career showcasing aspects of his beliefs, thoughts, and processes.
Notes:
The exhibition breaks down into six chapters : 1. Experiments with perspective, 2. Photography as drawing, 3. Recording the passage of time, 4. Painting being the only proper media to convey hugeness, 5. Wagner Drives in the San Gabriel Mountains, and 6. Hockney’s Opera stage designs.
The exhibition takes place in one large space, being projected over four walls, the floors and everyone and everything within the space.
There is ample seating provided in varying styles or viewers are able to sit on the ground or stand as they choose.
It is about a 50 minute experience on a loop.
The enticing factor about “immersive experiences” is an attempt to be all consuming to the viewer – to fully encompass the viewer and act as a literal immersion into the artwork where the viewer is meant to feel inside the work and the process, yet it only engages two out of the five senses: sight and sound.
Audio of Hockney speaking throughout the show - both bespoke interviews and archival ones.
The show doesn’t do anything new or exciting when it comes to projection based immersive spectacles. Rather lackluster for the viewer; likely very exciting for Hockney tho.
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