The exhibition, staged at the brand new Lightroom exhibition space in King’s Cross, is an engaging and multi-sensory journey lasting around 50 minutes, exploring over sixty years of David Hockney‘s artistic poduction. Lightroom, the result of a collaboration between 59 Productions and the London Theatre Company, is an innovative four-story exhibition space, funded by a group of investors led by Leonard Blavatnik. The exhibition, curated by Mark Grimmer of 59 Productions in close collaboration with Hockney, is divided into six thematic chapters.
David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)
Each explores a different aspect of his creative process: from collages to Polaroids, from works created on iPad to theatrical scenographies, highlighting the artist’s constant experimental research. Through Hockney’s own words, we discover why only painting can truly convey the majesty of the Grand Canyon. We join him on an audio-visual journey along Wagner Drive, through the San Gabriel Mountains, to enter an opera house recreated through his animated stage designs. Through the use of large-scale projections, animations, archival interviews, and an original soundtrack by Nico Muhly, “Bigger & Closer” transports visitors into Hockney’s world. His narrating voice accompanies the exploration, offering an intimate and personal key to understanding his work.
Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), 2023 – photo © Justin Sutcliffe, Courtesy Lightroom, London
From Los Angeles to Yorkshire, to his current residence in Normandy, the exhibition offers an opportunity to connect with one of the most beloved and innovative geniuses of the art world, an artist who continues to experiment and create beauty with unwavering wonder. The immersive and multi-sensory approach makes the exhibition suitable for a diverse audience, inviting them to discover – or rediscover – one of the most significant protagonists of contemporary art.
