Occasionally elusive, of ten unclassifiable, and always iconic, the work of David Hock- ney has continually painted the world in flamboyant colors, intense light, and daring experiments that transcend genre and de- fine each era. In collaboration with Tate Bri- tain and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Centre Pompidou is devoting its first retros- pective to the artist to celebrate his 80th birthday and look back over six decades of complex work driven by a desire to paint the experience of life.

This exceptional and comprehensive exhi- bition contains over 160 works spanning the genres of painting, engraving, drawing, books, and video installation. Beginning with the youthful paintings Hockney produced during his student days at Bradford College of Art and inspired by the vigorous realism of industrial England, the exhibition takes us through each successive period in the ar- tist’s career: from his acrylic paintings de- picting a hedonistic California like A Bigger Splash (1967), to a reconfigured Cubism made by reassembling Polaroid snapshots, as in Pearblossom Highway (1986). Next, the exhibition shows how Hockey refused to get left behind by the times and embraced new technologies to revolutionize the art world with drawings done on an iPad and shared with audiences and those near to him.

In this way, this impressive retrospective takes us on a voyage through several eras to discover and rediscover Hockney’s joyous and expressive work, inspired by past mas- ters like Picassco, Matisse, and Dubuffet. Today, Hockney stands as one of the most important artists of his generation. And now he is sharing his experience with Matthias Weischer, a young German painter who will learn from this legendary figure of the art world through the Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative created by Rolex.

The David Hockney retrospective will take place at Centre Pompidou from June 21 to October 23, 2017.

Written by Appoline Frimont

Portrait d’un artiste (Piscine avec deux personnages), 1972, acrylic on canvas 214 x 305 cm © David Hockney Photo : Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter

Schwimmbad Mitternacht (Paper Pool 11), 1978, colored and pressed paper pulpe
182.80 x 215.90 cm © David Hockney / Tyler Graphics Ltd. Photo : Richard Schmidt