With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Seven Ways Of Looking At David Hockney
Despite his British roots, few artists are more deeply associated with Los Angeles than David Hockney. From his sun-drenched "Swimming Pool" paintings to his panoramic reimagining of Mulholland Drive, Hockney has helped shape the way we see the city since he first decamped to Los Angeles a half century ago.
Seeking out sun, sex, space and "L.A. as his idealised version of America," Hockney bleached his dark brown hair blond when he first arrived in Los Angeles in 1964, according to FT.
"I came to Los Angeles for two reasons," Hockney told an interviewer in 2009. "The first was a photo by Julius Shulman of Case Study House #21, and the other was AMG’s Physique Pictorial [AMG was, at the time, the premier producer of homoerotic nude photography]."
“Arrived in the promised land 2 days ago,” a 26-year-old Hockney scrawled on the back of a postcard mailed to a friend in Britain in January 1964. “The world’s most beautiful city is here - LA… You must come.”
Support for LAist comes from
Hockney found his adopted hometown infinitely thrilling. ("It suits me here. You can live more privately here than anywhere else and yet still be in a city," he once told Lawrence Weschler; ""Los Angeles is the only place in the world where the buildings actually make you smile when you drive around," he told another interviewer). To him, the glistening city was also a blank slate of sorts, ripe to be shaped through his eyes.
“There were no paintings of Los Angeles,” he told the BBC's Melvyn Bragg in 1975, as quoted in David Hockney: The Biography. “People then didn’t even know what it looked like. And when I was there they were still finishing some of the big freeways. I remember seeing, within the first week, a ramp of a freeway going up into the air, and at first it looked like a ruin and I suddenly thought, ‘My God, this place needs its Piranesi; Los Angeles could have a Piranesi, so here I am!’”
And there he was. On July 9, Los Angeles' great visual chronicler turned 80, and in honor of Hockney's birthday the J. Paul Getty Museum is presenting Happy Birthday, Mr. Hockney, a two-part exhibition that features Hockney’s rarely seen self-portraits. Happy Birthday, Mr. Hockney also includes Polaroid composites and photo collages, including the Getty Museum’s masterpiece Pearblossom Hwy., 11-18th April 1986, #2, which was last shown in 2008.
The Getty has shared a preview of images from the exhibit (see above!) with LAist that offer a snapshot of Hockney's self portraits, which were never intended for commercial sale, as they evolved through the years.
“Hockney’s self-portraits in many ways reflect his career, exploring interests ranging from his flamboyant fashion sense to his own changing features and the consequences of aging, but always laced with wit and deep sensitivity,” Julian Brooks, senior curator of drawings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, said in a statement. “They were never intended for commercial sale, and have instead remained with the artist. We are privileged to be exhibiting these rarely seen, intimate works.”
"Happy Birthday, Mr. Hockney: Self-portraits" will be on display at the Getty Museum from June 27 to November 26, 2017. "Happy Birthday, Mr. Hockney: Photographs" will be on display from July 18 to November 26, 2017. The Getty Center is located at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles. (310) 440-7300
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
What do stairs have to do with California’s housing crisis? More than you might think, says this Culver City councilmember. -
Yes, it's controversial, but let me explain. -
Doctors say administrator directives allow immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and compromise medical care. -
The Palisades Fire erupted on Jan. 7 and went on to kill 12 people and destroy more than 6,800 homes and buildings. -
People moving to Los Angeles are regularly baffled by the region’s refrigerator-less apartments. They’ll soon be a thing of the past. -
Experts say students shouldn't readily forgo federal aid. But a California-only program may be a good alternative in some cases.
Best of LAist