The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Announce Major Exhibition of David Hockney’s Newest Body of Work
San Francisco, CA, October 2012—The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to announce the return of legendary pop artist David Hockney to California with an exhibition featuring previously unseen new works and his monumental landscapes that integrate art and technology. Opening October 2013 at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, the exhibition will include multi-canvas oil paintings, films shot with nine cameras and shown on nine screens and others shot with 18 cameras and shown on 18 screens, and the iPad drawings that have been a prominent part of Hockney’s recent practice. Including selections from the wildly successful exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the upcoming exhibition at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the highly anticipated de Young show will be on display in San Francisco October 26, 2013 to January 2014.
An artist long known for engaging with new media to produce his work—from Polaroid cameras to smart phones—this first major U.S. museum exhibition in six years highlights Hockney’s use of technological tools to produce monumental and deeply-felt representations of the natural world. Bright landscapes created on iPads, digital films that track the changing seasons, and massive oil paintings, all display Hockney’s unmatched curiosity and openness to innovation.
Many of the landscapes in this exhibition were inspired by Hockney’s youth in Yorkshire, England. Having returned to that country in 1997, the artist set about capturing these rural, agrarian settings with great affection and familiarity. The works in the exhibition also range beyond Yorkshire, including landscapes from California, the state where Hockney spent more than thirty years. These include works made in Yosemite on the iPad, and others that capture the unique landscapes of the Western United States.
“The de Young is thrilled to bring this major exhibition of David Hockney’s work to a U.S. museum,” says Richard Benefield, deputy director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “It’s clear from the pace at which Hockney continues to produce such important work—and the fearless nature of his innovation—that he has conceded nothing to his seventy-five years.”
About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco.
The de Young is housed in a copper-clad landmark building designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. It showcases the institution’s significant collections of American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the 17th to the 21st centuries; art from Oceania, Africa, and the Americas; a diverse collection of costumes and textiles; and international contemporary art.
The Legion of Honor’s Beaux-Arts style building designed by George Applegarth is located on a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Its collections span 4,000 years and include European paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts; ancient art from the Mediterranean basin; and the largest collection of works on paper in the American West.