You think your college textbooks were big? Well prepare to be shocked. Taschen has published a David Hockney book titled “A Bigger Book” which is so large that is rests on an easel. A Sumo- size book, its dimensions are 19.6 x 27.5 inches and weighs 75 pounds (not including the stand). This book serves as a portfolio of Hockney’s work, providing large photographs of his most famous works from portraits to his swimming pools to more recent iPad drawings.
Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii // Nam June Paik // forty-nine-channel closed-circuit video installation, neon, steel & electronic components
Located in the heart of our nation’s capital is an art museum dedicated to acquiring and exhibiting American art. Known as SAAM, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has an extensive collection of works including early America, the 19th and 20th centuries and portraiture, to name a few. Here are a few that caught my eye.
Snails Space with Vari-Lites, “Painting as Performance” // David Hockney // oil & acrylic on canvas with Vari Lights // 1995-1996
Drag-on // Karin Davie // oil on canvas // 1999
Sculpture Group Symbolizing World’s Communication in the Atomic Age // Harry Bertoia // brazed & welded brass & bronze // 1959
Nenuphar // Alexander Calder // sheet steel // 1968
William Jefferson Clinton (Forty-second president) // Chuck Close // oil on canvas // 2006
Tableau Noir // Alexander Calder // painted steel // 1970 // 140 x 145 x 140 in
Currently on view at the Royal Academy in London is an exhibition of 82 portraits and 1 still life by David Hockney. He only paints portraits of his friends set against a blue or green background. Each sitter can choose what they wear and how to sit. His only rule, they sit in the same chair. Hockney expertly portrays each individual’s personality, allowing you to feel as though you know the person even if only for a moment. Walking through the exhibition I kept thinking I wish I could be the subject one of his portraits!
