David Hockney disclaimer: there will be no pools, tanned nudes or palm trees in this show. ‘A Bigger Picture’ instead tells the story of how and why the prodigal son returned from Los Angeles to East Yorkshire to paint the windswept landscapes, long lanes and impenetrable woods of his childhood. As well as giant multi-panel paintings created specifically for the galleries, the ever-restless Hockney (soon to be 75) has enlarged 50 iridescent iPad drawings for the occasion and experimented with film documentation using a bank of 18 cameras to create a moving split-screen experience, in place of the static wall-mounted canvases. As you’d expect from the impish and outspoken aesthete, these are anything but dour northern vistas, so expect warm, light-filled rooms bursting with colour, technique and space. Hockney may well be our favourite artist, but he’s also one of this nation’s most enduringly inventive ones as well.
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