David Hockney
HOTEL ACATLAN: TWO WEEKS LATER, FROM; THE MOVING FOCUS SERIES, 1985
Lithograph in colors on two sheets of HMP handmade paper
28 5/8 x 74 ins 72.9 x 187.96 cm
Available at VFA
The work of David Hockney (b.1937) is part of an exhibit at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury, Suffolk, that explores the way in which artists of the Royal Academy use their own image in their works.
Hockney, one of Britain’s most celebrated and beloved artists, has been painting portraits of his family, friends and himself throughout his career. The Image of the Artist: Portraits from the Royal Academy explores the way in which artists portray themselves for public viewing.
The exhibit, which also includes a self-portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727–88), will be on view through April 20, 2025.
Hockney moved to Normandy in 2019, not just because of its beauty, but because he is a smoker who resented the bans on smoking in America and the UK. He bought a beautiful 17th century country home, with a cider press that he turned into a studio and has been painting the landscape of the surrounding countryside since his move,
In 1985, Hockney found himself stranded at a hotel in Acatlan, Mexico when his car broke down on the way to Mexico City. He used the time to draw the scenes around him at the hotel. The drawings, then lithographs and paintings became The Moving Focus Series. Hotel Acatlan: Two Weeks Later, available at VFA, is part of that series.
Hockney’s work is also included in an exhibit called Here Today, Here Tomorrow at the Arnolfini Arts Center in Bristol, along with work by Clare Woods (b.1972), another member of the Royal Academy.
Clare Woods lives and works in Hereford, near the Welsh border. During the pandemic, Woods began to make screenprints, woodblocks and collage, and had her first solo show of the new works in 2021. The Unfunny and other work by Woods are available at VFA.
Here Today, Here Tomorrow is a selection of works that reflect the everyday lives of the artists through landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Here Today, Here Tomorrow will be on view through February 2, 2025.
What has always set the works of Donald Sultan (b.1951) apart from other artists is his use of industrial materials in his paintings and fine art prints. He achieves a variety of textures with flocking, enamel inks and other mediums to create extraordinary surfaces in his fine art prints that are best appreciated when viewing the works in person.
Sultan was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. His family encouraged his artistic endeavors and he moved to New York after earning an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago.
In the late 1970s, after winning a Creative Artists Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, Sultan traveled to St. Tropez and met the founder of Vilebrequin swimwear, who used Sultan’s lantern flower pattern for a limited edition collection of swim suits and tote bags in 2017.
He also sculpts his flowers in shaped aluminum and adds flocking for texture. Both prints and sculptures by Donald Sultan are available at VFA.
