Hockney in Venice
The event: Traffic came to a near-standstill on streets surrounding the L.A. Louver gallery in Venice on Wednesday as guests approached the opening reception for “David Hockney: Painting and Photography.”
As vehicles crept toward the venue, two cars collided as they turned into a parking lot, while two other drivers, who barely missed, shouted at each other.
Inside, the solo exhibition of the artist’s new works attracted a wall-to-wall crush of art aficionados who checked out the paintings and “photographic drawings” of individuals, studio settings and groups of men playing cards or Scrabble, milling about or getting set to dance. A few reception guests could be seen in the artwork, since Hockney is known to paint friends, associates and his surroundings.
“He painted my living room,” said Roger Corman, speaking of a work Hockney created after visiting Corman’s home. The “Little Shop of Horrors” producer said he and his wife spotted the painting at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Corman said he stopped at the gift shop. “I bought the poster.”
Painting and photographs in the exhibition, consisting of works developed since Hockney’s return to Los Angeles two years ago, intentionally distort perspective. By overlaying multiple digital images — all with different vanishing points — the photographic drawings are meant to create a 3-D effect.
“You really get the effect of three dimensions,” said gallery director Elizabeth East before the opening. “When I looked at one of the pieces, I almost felt dizzy. They challenge you to think about what you’re seeing and what our sense of reality is.”
The crowd: Hockney himself vanished before the official opening time, but those attending the event included actress Jacqueline Bisset; artists Ed Moses, Thomas Demand, Michael McMillen, Tony Berlant, Tom Wudl and Don Suggs; Hockney subjects Jonathan Mills, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima and Evan Strand; and L.A. Louver founder/director Peter Goulds. Quote: Hockney “is constantly developing his ideas and harnessing technology to that end,” said East. “He is fascinated by the new technology, and these are tools for him, not the other way around. A lot of other people use technology and it leads them. He uses technology if it’s going to give him something new.” Dates of note: The exhibition is to continue through Sept. 19 at the gallery at 45 N. Venice Blvd. For information, call (310) 8224955. Hockney is scheduled to present his theories of perspective, painting and photography Sept. 10 at the Getty Center.