2. Introduction
I was first introduced to the artwork of David
Hockney, while I was visiting my
Grandparents in Yorkshire. We decided to
visit an art gallery, and chose Salts Mill, on
my Grandmothers recommendation.
(For more information on my visit to Salts Mill, click here, then click Part B).
The Mill was very interesting historically, but it
was Hockney’s work that I loved the most,
my favourites being the Grand Canyon, 25
Trees, and at the top of the list, his
paintings of his two Daschunds, Stanley
and Boodge.
5. Early Life
David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, on the 9th
July, 1937, to Laura and Kenneth Hockney, their fourth
child. His parents believed on the best education
possible for their children and he was raised strict
Methodist. As a child, he loved drawing cartoons and
watching opera. He attended Wellington Primary
School, and then in 1948, he won a scholarship to
Bradford Grammar School, one of the top schools in the
country at the time. At BGS, he enjoyed Art but not
other subjects, so he wanted to transfer to the Regional
College of Art, he was allowed to in 1958. He took his
National Diploma in Design Examination, and graduated
with honours. Then he went to the Painting School of
the Royal College.
http://www.hockneypictures.com/home.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hockney
http://www.davidhockney.com/bio.shtml
6. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/
Career
In 1961, Hockney travelled to New York, and then later, after
completing his studies at the Royal College, returned to New
York, where he met Andy Warhol. He then travelled to
California, and bought a house there, as he loved the
environment so much. This inspired a great number of pool
paintings. It was in America, in 1964 that Hockney had his
first exhibition, where he sold every painting. During his time
in America, Hockney also did a lot of teaching.
In 1996 he and his partner, Peter Schlesinger travelled around
Europe together, and this is where Hockneys interest in
Photography began. In 1974 a man called Jack Hazan
completed a biographical film on Hockneys life, at first he
didn't like it, mainly because of how it portrayed his previous
relationship, but signed for its release to give Hazan the credit
he deserved.
In the 1980s he started making photo collages, with a Polaroid
camera, from photos that were taken as quickly as possible, a
famous example of this would be the one of his mother.
9. iPad and iPhone Art
Hockney has always openly embraced new
technology, for example when the colour
laser copier was released in the nineties, he
was impressed with the colour, cost and the
fact that he could send all his images to
friends. So it came as no surprise that when
the iPhone was released, he bought one
straight away. Then when the iPad was
released he said if it was anything as good as
the iPhone, it would be hugely influencial to
his artwork. Which it has, because since
then, using an app called Brushes, he has
produced vast numbers of art pieces for his
London Exhibition.
Here is a link to an article on the BBC News website about Hockneys iPad art:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11666162
19. Awards
David Hockney has won a great number of
awards during his career including, the Kodak
Photography Book Award and the British
Book Design and Production Award, and he
was also offered a knighthood in 1990 but
turned it down. However recently he was
appointed a member of
the Order of Merit by the
Queen. The Order of Merit
is presented to high
achievers in the arts, and
there can only be 24
members at any one time.
For a full list of his awards, visit his website:
http://www.hockneypictures.com/awards/edu_awards_1.php
And to read more about him been appointed a member of the Order
of Merit, visit this article on the BBC news website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16376999
20. Why I Chose David Hockney as
My Hero
For my hero/heroine I wanted to use
someone whose work I really enjoyed,
and as soon as I saw Hockneys
paintings of Stanley and Boodge I
thought I would do him as my hero for
my Arts Award. After seeing the rest of
the exhibition at Saltaire and doing
further research on David Hockney, I
decided that I would do him as my
hero.