David Hockney Defends Painting as 'Art of the Present' Ahead of Tate Retrospective
In a video produced by Tate Modern for his upcoming retrospective, David Hockney (born 1937 in Bradford) defends his artistic practice against accusations of inconsistency, asserting that a coherent thread runs through his work: a specific attitude toward time and space. He states, "When you paint, you are in the present, and I like living in the present. There is nothing else, really." The exhibition, opening at Tate Modern on February 9, 2017, is billed as the largest solo show of the artist ever mounted, spanning sixty years of his career from iconic Los Angeles pool paintings to recent experiments with new technologies. Hockney will turn 80 on July 9, 2017. The video was released ahead of the show, which promises to be a comprehensive survey of his oeuvre.
Key facts
- David Hockney defends his work in a Tate Modern video ahead of his retrospective.
- The exhibition opens at Tate Modern on February 9, 2017.
- Hockney will turn 80 on July 9, 2017.
- The show is the largest solo exhibition of Hockney ever mounted.
- It covers sixty years of his career, from pool paintings to digital experiments.
- Hockney states painting is 'the art of the present'.
- He argues there is a coherent thread in his work: an attitude toward time and space.
- The video was produced by Tate Modern.
Entities
Artists
- David Hockney
Institutions
- Tate Modern
Locations
- Bradford
- United Kingdom
- London