David Hockney
Photos , reflections and splashes
Biography – task 1
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One of the most famous living artists working today.
He was born on July 9, 1937, in Bradford, England.
He studied at the Bradford College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London
1978 he settled permanently in Los Angeles, in the USA.
His style covers a lot of disciplines including Pop art and photography .
In the 1970s he achieved prominence as a set designer for the opera and ballet.
Hockney has always used technology in his work - photography and photocollage,
computer technology and printers, and Iphones and Ipads.
Find a picture of David Hockney for your sketchbooks.
Write 5 facts about his life
Find 5 quotes from him that you like!
Remember cubism?
• What was Cubism about? Can you remember
some of the keywords associated with it?
• Look at this video in which David Hockney
discusses ways of seeing:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrFDGct4
kH8
• Take a screenshot of David Hockney talking
about the Chinese scroll. Save and print this
image.
This is a painting by David Hockney. How many different perspectives can you see?
Task 2
• Find an example of a cubist painting by
Picasso or Braque (remember them?)
• Save and print the picture.
• In your sketchbooks stick the three images
(chinese scroll, cubist, hockney)
• Write about each image, how the artist has
used perspective? how are the images similar?
what are the images about? Where are you
(the viewer) standing?
David Hockney’s Photomontages
• Between 1970 and 1986 David Hockney
worked with photography a lot, creating
collages which he called ‘joiners’
• He made portraits of his friends and family,
and big pictures of his home and the
environment
• Some of the pictures were polaroids, laid out
in a grid formation, and some were hundreds
of photos all joined together into something
that almost looks like a painting.
'Portrait of Ambroise Vollard' 1910
This is a photomontage that David Hockney made of his mother. His mother
was a subject Hockney would use throughout his career at various times. The
picture on the right is by Picasso. Are the images similar? In what way?
Please look at this excellent website:
http://thedelightsofseeing.blogspot.com/2011/03/cubism-joiners-and-multiple-viewpoint.html
Answer the following question:
Can you name 3 artists who have been influenced by Hockneys ideas and techniques?
Find images to include in your sketchbook.
Who was Hockney influenced by?
Thin of three words to describe Hockneys joiners.
This is probably Hockney’s most famous photomontage, Pearl Blossom Highway.
Watch him discuss how he made the work here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD123svCFHQ
Is this a painting or a photograph? Why do you say this?
Here are some joiners I made, a few years ago. In real life these are very big, and made
from hundreds of pictures
Task 3
• You will need a camera – for this project, it is ok to use your
mobile phones.
• You will be making 3 different photomontages
• 1 of a person that you know very well (this could be a friend
or someone in your family)
• 1 of a special place
• 1 of your own choice
• In your sketchbooks you need to plan your three pieces of
work – find works by Hockney to help inspire you!
• What makes a good subject? What details can you include? Is
there a feeling or a mood you can capture? How can you show
someone’s personality?