tech
March 12, 2026
David Hockney Review
Serpentine North, London The artist has stitched together 100 iPad paintings into a vast digital frieze – but the results risk undermining the pleasure in simple beauty which was his great gift to British art
TL;DR
- David Hockney's early work revitalized modern painting by celebrating beauty and freedom, contrasting with peers who expressed angst or irony.
- Hockney's 10-year period after 1963 disproved the idea that great art must be difficult or inaccessible.
- The exhibition "A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting" at Serpentine North features a 90-meter long frieze constructed from 100 iPad images.
- The frieze depicts the changing landscape around Hockney's French home through the seasons, utilizing a "many-windowed" perspective to challenge single-point realism.
- The reviewer finds the "A Year in Normandie" frieze underwhelming due to messy details, clashing colors, and an artificiality that resembles a digital filter applied to historical Normandy paintings.
- The most successful works are two portraits, one of Hockney's partner Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima and another of his nephew, which capture character and affection.
- However, even the portraits are criticized for distracting elements like steep reverse perspective tables.
- The article concludes by reflecting on Hockney's enduring lesson: the importance of finding pleasure in the world and appreciating beauty, even in dispiriting times.
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