DAVID HOCKNEY: SLOW RISE
Hockneyâs
colorful elaboration
on Picassoâs synthetic cubism, characterized
by the juxtaposing and
overlapping
of shapes so highly abstracted
that their relationship
to any
initially observed subject matters becomes
metaphorical in nature,
is essential
to keep in mind when viewing Slow Rise
and attempting to discern
its
landscape configuration. Perspective is largely
done away with in favor
of a
composite of shapes, forms, textures, and points
of view, all arranged by
the
artist to achieve a harmonious abstract design
that is more expressive
for him
than a product of observation-based realism.
The
Brauer Museum
of Art is proud to have in its permanent collection a fascinating color
lithograph/screenprint by the British artist David Hockney.
Entitled Slow
Rise and created in 1994, this complex work was created in an
edition
of 68 prints. Slow Rise remarkably manages to refer
visually
to many of the key phases and concerns of Hockneyâs multifaceted
career.
Those familiar
with the Brauer Museumâs collecting mission may wonder why a
British artist
is represented in the museumâs holdings of American art.
The answer
to such a question relates directly to the subject matter of this
particular
image. Throughout his career, Hockney has in his art reflected a
fascination with California, specifically the geography, the warm
light,
the popular culture, and the lifestyles of the people in that
state.
This fascination, and perhaps a deep affinity for the landscape,
people,
and lifestyles he saw there, eventually led him to establish a
residence
in California. One can see Hockneyâs keen observational
skills directed
toward this environment in one of the more popular paintings in the Art
Institute of Chicagoâs collection, an oil on canvas from 1968
entitled American
Collectors. This work depicts a man and woman standing in
front
of a very modern home. The way both figures are dressed, their
facial
expressions, the spare and clean elegance of the houseâs design,
the cool
colors, and the bright and even quality of the light represented in the
picture all work together to present a scene that viewers would
immediately
identify as taking place in the Los Angeles area. (Interestingly,
while this identification could arise from viewersâ personal
experiences,
it most likely comes from viewersâ experiences of Hollywood
films.)
Hockneyâs works, in a variety of media, of swimming pools also
capture
the essence of California and do so with more abstract means.
While Slow
Rise is not easily recognizable as depicting a California locale,
it
is part of Hockneyâs ongoing meditation on this stateâs
geography, part
of a large series of works in various media that use certain views or
geographical
features as jumping-off points for imaginative experiments in
abstraction
or stylization.
One
artist
who has been an important influence on Hockneyâs work and who
seems to
occupy a prominent place in Hockneyâs conscious mind is Picasso
(a 1973
etching by Hockney entitled The Student: Homage to Picasso
shows
the artist holding a portfolio and standing humbly before an oversized
portrait head of Picasso which is mounted on a classical marble
column).
Picassoâs cubist experiments in portraying multiple views of a
subject
on a two-dimensional surface lie at the heart of many phases in
Hockneyâs
career; his Polaroid collages, his visually fractured painted
portraits,
and his series of California landscapes (to which Slow Rise
belongs)
all come from his ongoing interest in finding continued relevance in
mining
cubism for new pictorial potential and personal meaning, as well as
exploring
the nature of perception in general. Hockneyâs colorful
elaboration
on Picassoâs synthetic cubism, characterized by the juxtaposing
and overlapping
of shapes so highly abstracted that their relationship to any initially
observed subject matters becomes metaphorical in nature, is essential
to
keep in mind when viewing Slow Rise and attempting to discern
its
landscape configuration. Perspective is largely done away with in
favor of a composite of shapes, forms, textures, and points of view,
all
arranged by the artist to achieve a harmonious abstract design that is
more expressive for him than a product of observation-based
realism.
By
understanding
that the landscape of Slow Rise is constructed in a cubist
manner,
viewers can adjust their way of seeing the work to delight in various
associations,
some of which relate to more areas of Hockneyâs body of
interests.
For instance, the highly compressed pictorial space in the piece is
achieved
by the artist placing foreground elements at the bottom of the image,
and
then stacking middle-ground and background layers so that they ascend
in
a way that recalls the atmospheric perspective seen in Chinese scroll
paintings.
The shrub-like forms at the bottom of the image are anchored to the
light
orange ground by darker orange shadows, while the many post-like forms,
possibly representing trees, cast long shadows to the side, an
illusionistic detail which
adds
a literal and even ominous dimension to the highly stylized
scene.
These post forms, dramatically struck by an unseen light source and
starkly
standing in colored, subtly-patterned fields, remind one of figures on
a stage. Throughout his career, Hockney has done many set designs
for theatrical productions and, like so many modern set designers, has
consciously stressed the artificiality of the stage with his bold and
simplified
flats and free-standing components (such a bold approach also has the
advantage
of viewers in distant rows being able to see and understand clearly the
details painted on the various set pieces). Thus, the abstracted
puzzle pieces of Slow Rise combine with solemn, featureless
standing
forms to produce a landscape of the mind or imagination, where the
pictorial
forms in the scene manage to stand for landscape elements while
simultaneously
acknowledging their own artificial nature.
Slow
Riseâs active composition is further animated by an
exquisitely printed
surface. The bright white of the paper serves to brighten the
colors,
while the smoothness of the paper allows the printed shapes to stand
out
in crisp definition and fine detail. Lithographically printed
passages,
usually subtle, thin, and full of interior modulation, have a
high-contrast
appearance in this work, while the silk-screened passages are richly
gestural
in contrast to the generally flat and even look that is usually
associated
with this medium. The varied marks that make up the image,
therefore,
pose a satisfying and interesting challenge to the trained eye in
identifying
which areas are printed by which process. Several areas within
the
piece, particularly the black and white areas in the left half of the
print
and the fading green field in the center, have visual textures which
seem
in origin to be mechanically produced, as if extracted from some larger
continuous pattern or drawn and then manipulated with a computer or fax
machine. Hockney has actually been using both tools in the
creation
of his recent work, demonstrating with these experimental endeavors his
restlessly creative spirit and his
desire to explore new
methods and
materials for art-making. These mechanically patterned portions
further
reinforce the notion of this landscape as an imaginative
construct.
One
of
Hockneyâs most recent projects has been a thought-provoking
re-examination
of the working methods employed by those artists who have come to be
called
the Old Masters. Most of his primary points on this topic can be
found in his controversial 2001 book, Secret Knowledge:
Rediscovering
the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters. In this book, Hockney
argues that abundant evidence exists in Old Master paintings to prove
that
these artists used lenses and various basic devices to assist them in
achieving
the amazing portrait likenesses and incredibly elaborate compositions
for
which they are revered. While Hockneyâs theories in this
book are
of no relevance to an analysis of Slow Rise, they do provide
additional
proof of his passionate interest in the complex processes involved in
artistic
representation.
In Slow
Rise, Hockney has consciously disregarded virtually every aspect of
traditional landscape depiction in making his own landscape
image.
The resulting work disintegrates and reassembles itself before
oneâs eyes,
as expressive passages of mark-making, patterned shapes, and vibrant
colors
snap viewers into an awareness of another land, another world, where
limits
cease to exist.
© by Gregg Hertzlieb
