David Hockney | The Tate Britain | Art Review | London

David Hockney | The Tate Britain | Art Review | London

I absolutely love David Hockney, when I was a kid growing up in Yorkshire I was particularly drawn to his work from a very young age. I did feel the Northern connection, but I also just loved how graphic and fun his images are. 

When I saw his painting yesterday, a lot of which I have seen for the first time in real life, they still gave me the same excitement which I felt when I was a child. There were a few rooms of experimental abstract pieces, but his more well-known work which are huge canvases of a meticulous clean acrylic painting showing an LA affluent lifestyle- these to me are his real masterpieces.

The pastel colours are calming, they have a real kind of softness to them which I find so soothing and I am really inspired by his colour palette. His brush work is still fresh and fun, he feels really playful with textures, such as feet disappearing into a fluffy rug or the light lines in the swimming pool. I love his line work as it shows that he is not afraid to push his paintings into graphic work.

His later painting work is slightly messier and he also practices in multimedia, photographs and video. He cuts up squares of the canvas and stitches them back together with different shots or moving video to re-create the same images again- this is all very interesting.

The last room of the show are screens of him time lapsing him painting on an iPad. This is really amazing to watch as it breakdowns how he paints and you can almost watch it back in real time.

Overall this is a massive exhibition showcasing a lifetime of the artists work and it is simply incredible to see, I am so grateful that I got a chance to go.