In 2015, David Hockney made his solo exhibition "Spring Solstice" in Pace Beijing, where he exhibited Hockney's iPad paintings and two multi-screen video installations in his hometown of Yorkshire.
David Hockney
The Paper has learned that on August 30, the Mumu Art Community in Beijing's Qianliang Hutong will usher in the opening blockbuster exhibition "Big Splash", which will present more than 100 david Hockney works in cooperation with the Tate London. Born in Bradford, England in 1937, David Hockney attended bradford College of Art and then the Royal College of Art in London. In 1970, at the age of 33, Hockney held his first solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, and since then he has attracted the attention of critics and the public, and has created a series of world-famous works in succession for the next 60 years. In 2018, his oil painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool and Two Portraits) sold for a whopping $90.31 million (626 million yuan), becoming the most expensive artist in the world that year, and in 2019, this record was set by American artist Jeff Koons ($91.1 million).
David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool and Two Portraits), 1972
David Hockney, 82, who has lived and worked in London, Los Angeles, Paris and other places since 1961, has made no secret of his identity, from the portrayal of emotions to the in-depth study of the meaning of painting as an image, exploring painting in different thematic media in different periods and environments.
According to the organizers, the exhibition "David Hockney: The Big Splash" will present David Hockney's artistic career from the 1950s to the present in all aspects and dimensions with more than 100 works, such as his two-dimensional representation of realistic landscapes, focused perspective observations, and recent experiments with digital technology media. Works on display include the Tate Collection and David Hockney's iconic series of masterpieces such as Bigger Splash and My Parents.
David Hockney, My Parents, 1977
David Hockney, The Clarkes and the Passy Cat, 1970-1
In response to David Hockney's special relationship with Chinese and ancient paintings and calligraphy, with the support of eight art institutions and collectors, the exhibition also curated a special unit. Chinese painting has had a profound influence on David Hockney's creation in terms of painting theory, technique, and perspective. In particular, the composition and viewing method of the scroll painting "Scattered Perspective" and "Step by Step". One of the most widely known was the 1998 film He planned and co-produced, A Day Trip to the Grand Canal with the Chinese Emperor. In it, Hockney details a dynamic depiction of time and space that he felt in Wang Fei's Kangxi Southern Tour, the pinnacle of Qing Dynasty court painting. The Kangxi Southern Tour will be juxtaposed with David Hockney's related works, inspiring dialogue across cultural contexts and time and space.
Wang Yi, Song Junye, Yang Jin et al., Kangxi Southern Tour Map (Volume VI), Part 1632-1717
In the exhibition, visitors will see how Hockney has traveled through countless trails along the way, exploring the nature of viewing and reproduction, and how he became one of the world's greatest artists today. At the same time, the exhibition is not only another dialogue between Hockney and China, but also another communication between ancient and contemporary, East and West, and the essential thinking of art in the East and the West.
David Hockney, View of the Inn's Patio III, 1984-5
Hockney's China Diary: Childlike innocence and curiosity
In 1981, David Hockney and the 72-year-old British poet Stephen Spender visited China and in 1982 they collected the experience and published it as "China Diary", Chinese edition of "China Diary" was previously introduced and published by Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House.
The China Diary
In 2015, Hockney visited China for 34 years to hold a solo exhibition "Spring Solstice", which caused a sensation. As one of the most influential masters in the international art world today, Hockney created 158 illustrations for The Diary of China, a precious archive of images that record the vivid social picture of China's early reform and opening up. The group has traveled to Hong Kong, Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, Guilin, Guangzhou and other places, and the short trip of 3 weeks has left a deep impression on everyone.
When Recalling and discussing this wonderful journey with the poet Spundr, Hockney described the presentation of the "Chinese Diary" from the perspective of "the first time a schoolboy traveled to another continent"—it was fragmentary, while maintaining a childlike innocent and enthusiastic curiosity and curiosity.
Book Excerpts:
Hockney: "The three-week trip for the three of us was very enjoyable and exciting. At least that's how I felt, and it was an unforgettable memory. This country, which originally existed only in the imagination, suddenly appeared in front of you. You travel with an impression and write everything about it, while I paint everything there. ...... Artists often have to travel because they think it's something they're interested in, or they know it's bound to interest them. Before I went to China, I had no concept of the country at all. What I have to do now is to sit quietly and think about the people and things at that time. ”
First from right: David Hockney Second from right: Stephen Spender
Roadmap for the trip to China
No pair of companion travelers is as harmonious and gifted as the artist David Hockney and the poet Stephen Spund. Their shared talents make this illustrated chinese book vivid and interesting, but also bring meaningful inspiration. These stories not only record their exchanges with young Chinese poets and artists, but also record their subtle observations of ordinary Chinese people and social landscapes. Listening to the numerous conversations that these intelligent travelers have in China is a very enjoyable process that is inspiring, serious and lighthearted. Observing everyday or peculiar life in China through their eyes is equally a treat.
Tang Asked David if he liked abstract art. David again points out that he is not a theorist, but an artist. "But," David continues, "the problem is, I think, there are people who like new things because they want change: they are often full of power in the beginning, and yet that power evaporates after a while. When the power disappears, you can only leave very few results, but when there is power, the work created is indeed somewhat spiritual. I sometimes think that artists can be more creative in their limitations. You must be more creative when instructed to create a painting with only six lines than to create a painting with a hundred lines... But everything is determined by the artist's own imagination. I tend to think that everything is in the imagination. Abstract art must have lost the power it had had years ago. ”
Hockney was surrounded by children while painting outdoors in Hangzhou.
Hockney painted his travel companion, the English poet Spencer, on his travels
Hockney and Spencer
Xi'an Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Hockney's lens
The steps of Baoyun Pavilion in the Summer Palace under Hockney's lens
Hockney's Tiananmen Square
Hockney's mountains of Guilin
That low-key trip to China was not much mentioned in China before. At that time, Western modern art had just poured into China. But there is no doubt that Hockney's conception of painting and art, in the decades after his departure, had a great influence on Chinese artists, and Hockney's own books and Chinese books of Hockney's interviews were reprinted in one edition.
In an interview with Pace's solo exhibition in Beijing in 2015, Hockney said he missed a young boy he met in Guangxi at the time, when he was 8 years old and his father was a boatman who could draw. Hockney took a few crayons and showed them to the child, who at first said he didn't like to draw, but then came to see that he was very interested, and then took the brush and drew a cat. In Hockney's view, the boy was very talented, and he wondered how he was now.
(Source: Pace Gallery public name, with deletions.) ）