Twice David Hockney in Bozar Brussels
Lovers of David Hockney’s work should definitely visit Brussels There are in Bozar no fewer than two exhibitions at the same time. Together they give a unique picture of this special artist.
The rooms are furnished in such a way that you can see the exhibition first Works from the Tate Collection, 1954-2017 visits. The first thing that immediately stands out is the colossal work Larger trees at Warter or/or Peinture sur le Motif pour le Nouvel Age Post-Photographique. That’s a long title for a huge painting. Hockney built it from 50 panels. Together they form the largest work David Hockney has ever made.
Swimming pools
If the visitor immediately knows how special Hockney is and how rich and diverse his oeuvre. The works from the Tate Collection chronologically show how Hockney himself is again trying to innovate and try new things, but above all how fantastic technique is. It is often the environment that inspires the artist to new things: the sunlight and the swimming pools in California, the life on the streets in Beirut or the bright colors in the garden of a hotel in Mexico.
Highlights of this exhibition are two pool paintings and a few portraits. The painting he made of his parents in 1977 especially made a great impression. Not only the (seemingly typical) poses of his parents, but also the way in which he has used the oil paint and the fact that Hockney shows himself here from a very personal point of view.
Already seen at the Hockney/Van Gogh exhibition in Amsterdam, but still fantastic to look at is the natural self-portrait of the David Hockney in his studio. This panorama consists of no less than 3000 photos. Combined, they provide an astonishing and intriguing picture of a unique artist and his work.
Spring
More recent work in the exhibition will follow in the following rooms The Coming of Spring, Normandy, 2020. It gives a beautiful picture of the time and shows that Hockney has a nice outlook on life. While the whole world went into lockdown and were canceled en masse, Hockney concluded that spring cannot be cancelled. He went out daily to capture the burgeoning nature in Normandy on his iPad.
The paintings show how great David Hockney’s love for nature is. A love that immediately spreads to the admirers of these paintings. There is no escaping the beauty of nature. It is nice that sometimes the same tree or the same view can be seen several times. They show that no moment is the same outside in the green. And here again you see what a fantastic artist David Hockney is.
David Hockney at Bozar Brussels can be seen until January 23, 2022. Since Bozar works with time slots for this exhibition, it is recommended to buy your tickets online in advance. The museum is a few minutes’ walk from Brussels Central Station. We therefore recommend to international train from the NS to Brussels if you are going to visit this double exhibition.