David Hockney on a personal virtual journey through 60 years

David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) opens at The Lightroom on 25th January 2023.

About David Hockney: Bigger & Closer

The difference about this new exhibition is it contains no drawings or paintings and yet it is all about drawing and painting and the processes Hockney uses and has used to create his art.

Using large-scale projection in a remarkable new space, David Hockney takes us on a personal journey through sixty years of his art.
Lightroom’s vast walls and revolutionary sound system enable us to experience the world through Hockney’s eyes.
His life-long fascination with the possibilities of new media is given vibrant expression in a show that invites us to look more closely, more truly and more joyously.

It features:

• the creation of a virtual reality using immersive audio and visual techniques to guide visitors into Hockney’s world
• a commentary by Hockney
• a specially composed score by American composer Nico Muhly
• six themed chapters

“I’m usually drawing or painting, it’s all I want to do now"

There are six main topics which are examined in this exhibition / experience which reflect his many and various interests and projects over the last 60 years or more.

• how he experiments with perspective
• how he uses photography as a way of ‘drawing with a camera’
• how he records the passing of time using:
• polaroid collages of spending time with people and 
• the joy of spring (on his iPad) in the Yorkshire Wolds
• why paint is the only medium to properly convey the hugeness of the Grand Canyon
• driving up his audio-visual Wagner Drive into the San Gabriel Mountains
• an opera which includes animated re-creations of his stage designs

VIEW an interview with David Hockney about this exhibition on the BBC website.

The BBC's Katie Razzall spoke with the 85-year-old as he put the finishing touches to his show at its new venue, Lightroom, in London's Kings Cross.

There's a huge team which has been working on this three year project - and you can find the credits on the webpage.

Exhibition details

• Website: https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/david-hockney/
• Dates: 25 January - 23 April 2023
• Venue: The Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, London, N1C 4DY (this is an 8 minute walk from Kings Cross and London St Pancras stations)
• this is their Your Visit Page
• Get Directions in Google Maps
• Get Directions in Apple Maps
• Nearest Station: King’s Cross St. Pancras (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Northern line; National and International rail).
• Tickets: £25 during the day; more expensive in the evening
• discounts for groups
• can be booked in advance - and some dates and times already have low availability (for those who like to have seen the "must see" show before everybody else)
• pre-booked tickets can be exchanged for a different time slot of a different date or a credit note
• ALL TICKETS ARE E-TICKETS AND EMAILED TO YOU

About The Lightroom

Lightroom is located in King’s Cross on Lewis Cubitt Square, adjacent to Coal Drops Yard and Central St Martin’s. It was designed by Haworth Tompkins as a sister space to the award-winning Bridge Theatre. Along with a generous Foyer and gift shop, the space also contains a bar and seating area run by St John.

Lightroom is

• a joint venture between 59 Productions and London Theatre Company.
• backed by a group of investors led by Danny Cohen, President of Access Entertainment, and Mike Sherwood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs International.