National Gallery of Australia presents a nationally touring exhibition of prints by world-renowned artist David Hockney at the Araluen Arts Centre

The Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture’s Araluen Arts Centre is pleased to present David Hockney Prints, a significant exhibition of works by the world-renowned artist developed and toured by the National Gallery of Australia.

“David Hockney Prints is a coup for Central Australia and the Araluen Arts Centre. We are thrilled to be presenting an exhibition of works by this internationally iconic and influential artist for the first time,” Senior Director of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture’s Araluen Cultural Precinct, Dr Mark Crees, said.

“David Hockney has been a towering figure on the international art scene for half a century, and he is among the most experimental in embracing new art forms and technologies.”

Drawn from the NGA’s collection of Hockney works on paper (one of the most extensive collections in the world) from 1961 to the present, David Hockney Prints is a stunning exhibition highlighting the depth and scope of the artist’s printmaking output.

“I love new mediums. I think mediums can turn you on, they can excite you; they always let you do something in a different way,” David Hockney said.

As a young artist, Hockney explored his sexual identity and experiences through painting and printmaking by developing a subversive iconography relating to his homosexuality.

Now 81-years-old, Hockney seeks to explore the age-old questions of how to create a portrait, how to depict a landscape and season, and how to indicate space and time in two-dimensional art forms.

National Gallery of Australia Curator, Jane Kinsman, said “approaching the medium with a glorious lack of inhibition, Hockney is the ultimate eclectic creator”.

“The works of David Hockney Prints are inspired by sources ranging from Pablo Picasso to Pop Art, Walt Whitman to the Brothers Grimm, and the exhilarating experience of living and working in Los Angeles,” she said. “Hockney has developed his prints using lithography and etching, photocopiers and fax machines, and – most recently – iPhones and iPads for startling results in the digital world.

“David Hockney Prints is a thrilling insight into the mind of an iconic artist still searching for new ways of seeing and depiction.”

David Hockney Prints will be officially opened on Friday, 3 May at 6pm. The exhibition is supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program.

Image: David Hockney, Afternoon swimming 1980, colour lithograph. Purchased 1980. © David Hockney