Hockney Documentary

David Hockney is one of Britain’s most important living artists, whose stylistically wide-ranging but instantly recognisable works span six decades. Randall Wright’s new documentary looks to be the definite filmic exploration of his life and works. Three days before its general release, four of London’s Curzon cinemas – Victoria, Chelsea, Richmond and Wimbledon – present a gala screening, followed by an extended conversation with the artist himself from his studio in Los Angeles.

The Documentary
Hockney has granted Wright unprecedented permission to explore his huge archive of film and photography, allowing viewers delve into the artist’s life through his own documentation. Beginning with his resolutely working-class childhood in 1940s Bradford, the film follows Hockney through studies at London, spells under the Californian sun and later returns to landscape painting in rural Yorkshire.

The Man
Throughout his career, David Hockney has managed to create works of significant modernity whilst remaining popular and accessible to a wider public. After training in Bradford, he entered the art world through one of the first Royal College Young Contemporaries exhibitions. When the same institution prevented his graduation after he refused to write an essay, he submitted a sketch in protest and caused the RCA to change their rules.

The Artist 
Working predominantly in the mediums of paint, printmaking and photography, his early works used text and image to boldly proclaim his homosexuality. His famed Californian paintings from the mid-60s onwards are bright, bold and almost hyper-realistic, snapshots from a world of inhibition distinct from his greysale youth. In recent years, Hockney has focused on creating extraordinarily large landscapes shot through with his signature colours, and harnessed the possibility of smart phones and tablets as an artistic medium. Now 77 years old, he remains both an active creator and an idiosyncratic, beguiling presence.