We have always been admirers of David Hockney's art and appreciative of his often pioneering approach to pushing back the boundaries of artistic practise- whilst still of course managing to make a healthy living from it.
He has recently embraced computer techniques to create images and enhance his own photographs and brushwork. An exhibition of some 28 examples of this has just finished in a London gallery.
The works are striking, in particular the one above depicting rain on Bridlington promenade which is evocative and compelling in its naivety. The showing is on the whole we feel, a success although there are some duds in there and one cannot shrug off the lingering feeling that are these being shown because they are Hockney's, or because they are accomplished art?
Whatever brand Hockney is alive and well and who's complaining. He is no doubt on the cutting edge of a new movement in art as computing packages become ever more sophisticated, although we would debate the validity of his statement that Photoshop software for example, has only just reached the point where it can be successfully used for artistic purposes. That capability has existed in many earlier versions and of course in other packages and, as he himself said justifying the use of computers, it is a tool as much as a brush, so one suspects that in reality he has just discovered these computer capabilities, not that they have finally evolved to his needs.
Whatever, a small beef. One could argue that his style of art is ideally suited to the tools offered by computer software and his small screen designs he makes on his iphone- we particularly like his idea of painting flowers on it, then sending them to his friends!- some of the examples of this are as equally charming as the picture shown above.
There are- and will continue to be in growing numbers- finer examples of computer-aided art than his, but he has the name to command attention to the technique which is all to the good.
As the internet is shaking up the complacent, closeted and self-congratulatory world of publishing and journalism, so are computer techniques doing the same to the world of fine art. This is an exciting time for artists prepared to experiment and explore [and by in turn, for the public at large] and a worrying one for those stuck to the comforts of their place in the establishment.
Long may Hockney continue to challenge them and thus encourage others to do the same.
