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He’s still at it, is David Hockney. Now in his late eighties, and more than 60 years into a career which has propelled him to the pinnacle of the contemporary art pile, the artist remains active with his brush, constantly exploring, persistently inventing, and still having shows.

Exploring the Art Display

This art presentation – debuting in a prestigious central London venue for his long-term gallery, his gallery since the 1990s – is packed with paintings that feel freshly completed. The opening room features intensely vibrant still life compositions: furniture, produce, and floral arrangements. While the themes are traditional and conventional, Hockney’s approach is never boring, right?

His Van Gogh-y wicker chairs glow in bright yellow and vivid purple; his floors present bold contrasts of red, yellow and orange shapes; his fruit is all primary and basic and childlike. Across the works, he experiments with his concept of “reverse perspective”, aiming to mirror true human vision, not the static view of life found in photos and traditional art. So everything looks wobbly and twisted. His chair legs splay, his tablecloths warp. It may not be more accurate than classical perspective compared to conventional techniques, yet the dizzying, uneasy sensation it produces is engaging and amusing. Garden images are incorporated into certain pieces – brief peeks into a muted English setting that just make the rest of each work feel brighter and sunnier.

Nothing he does is ever dull … Delphiniums on My Garden Table, a recent creation.

The Evolution of Brushwork

What you can’t really avoid is how much shakier these brush marks are compared to earlier works. Classic Hockney is so assured, so in command of his paintbrush, yet these latest creations are surprisingly erratic. The strokes are filled with shakes and vibrations, the lines are all over the shop, patches of white base layer are visible throughout. They border on chaotic, yet they are instantly, distinctly, and unmistakably his. It makes for quite an emotional, affecting experience – we’re watching one of the great artists of modern times age in front of our eyes. Contrast this with his initial pieces on display in another show earlier this year and it almost starts to feel like bookends of a career, and I’m not sure I’m ready to handle that level of morbidity, actually.

Portraits: A Mixed Reception

The portraits are where this show fails the hardest though. Hockney’s approach to skin tone has shifted toward a pointillist style in recent times and the result is a bunch of bodies that look as if they’re covered in sores. Every subject is patchy, flushed and marked, dabbed with pink and red hues with the exception of one individual who looks somewhat decayed. The figures are closer to fresh corpses more than vibrant, living entities. A triple portrait of a man in a mirror is conceptually interesting, yet the subject appears uncomfortably poised in a mundane setting. Solely the self-representation showing Hockney painting in a wheelchair is successful, due to its raw openness, and its humorous self-reflection.

Quiet and austere … 8th April 2020, No. 2.

Digital Explorations

On the upper level, Hockney continues his iPad experiments featuring lunar artworks; predominantly somber and atmospheric, large radiant spheres suspended over darkened scenery. They feel quiet, austere, maybe a little sad. Criticisms of his digital art are unfounded – people complain about the lack of texture and brush marks and humanity and yadda yadda yadda, but to my mind they’re great – an artist bending new technology to his will, showing that whatever the medium, he still maintains all the hallmarks of his aesthetic.

The Question of Prolificacy

However, do we really need yet another Hockney exhibition? Over ten exhibitions of his art have been held in London in the last eight or nine years alone, alongside a major retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris earlier this year, and this new exhibition isn’t even the last of it. Another significant event is planned for 2026, too. I love Hockney, yet I believe there may be a limit.

Nevertheless, we ought to appreciate him while possible. In this exhibition, with all these new works with their imperfections, wit, and vibrancy, he demonstrates his ongoing dedication, and his talent endures, all these years later.