Description: David Hockney's uplifting iPad drawings of the arrival of spring near his house and studio in Normandy, France.
At the beginning of 2020, just as global Covid-19 restrictions were coming into force, the artist David Hockney was at his house, studio and garden in Normandy. From there, he witnessed the arrival of spring, and recorded the blossoming of the surrounding landscape on his iPad, a medium he has been using for over a decade. Working outdoors was an antidote to the anxiety of the moment for Hockney - 'We need art, and I do think it can relieve stress, ' he says.This uplifting publication - produced to accompany a major exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts - includes 116 of his new iPad paintings and shows to full effect Hockney's singular skill in capturing the exuberance of nature.
Brief description: Edith Devaney is head of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and curator of contemporary projects at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Review Quotes: Created while sheltering in place at his home in the French countryside last year as the first wave of lockdowns swept the globe, the serial landscapes--including water lilies àla Monet and fruit trees slowly bursting into bloom--speak to the liberating power of creativity. "We need art, and I do think it can relieve stress," Hockney said in an interview with the exhibition's curator, Edith Devaney, which opens the volume.The book also includes an augmented reality feature that allows smartphones to scan images and play a corresponding animation.-- "Harper's Bazaar"