David Hockney’s iconic painting “A Bigger Splash” (1967), is at the heart of the exhibition. Via Nottingham Contemporary.

Currently showing at the newly opened Nottingham Contemporary art space in the UK is a major exhibition of work by artist David Hockney. Over 60 works by the artist– including paintings, etchings and drawings, are on show from national and international museum collections for the museum’s inaugural exhibit, which focuses on re-examining the work that the artist produced while living in London and Los Angeles during the years 1960 to 1968.  At the beginning of the 1960’s, Hockney was only in his mid-twenties and had already become one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary artists in Britain, building a national reputation for his distinctive, versatile art that was at once spontaneous, full of allusion and bold for its open references to homosexuality. Themes of the conventional yet “glamorous” California life abound in his work– particularly in his paintings of iconic glistening poolscapes and pristine lawns from the 1960’s, which evoke subliminal messages about society. Although Hockney has rejected the label of being a “Pop” artist, many of his works contain references to popular culture and draw inspiration from graffiti, magazine images, films and photographs, while also containing subtle indications of humor.  “1960-1968, A Marriage of Styles,” marks the first time that Hockney’s early work has been amassed in a collection since the Whitechapel Gallery retrospective of 1970.

David Hockney, “Life Painting for a Diploma,” (1962) Via Guardian

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