David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) at Aviva Studios
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities EditorBook now
David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
Following sold-out runs in both London and Manchester, David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) is back in Aviva Studios this winter. Presented through huge, state-of-the-art projections and immersive sound design, it’s a journey through six decades of one of Britain’s most inventive artists – from early experiments with perspective to his most recent digital works.
The exhibition unfolds across six thematic chapters – from the dazzling light of Los Angeles to the rolling greens of Yorkshire and the quiet rhythm of his Normandy period. As each space transforms, you hear directly from Hockney himself, reflecting on the moments, places and ideas that shaped his life’s work, and revealing how technology has continually changed the way he sees and captures the world.
Known for his sweeping landscapes, intimate portraits and beautifully off-kilter domestic scenes, his aesthetic has gone on to inspire many great 20th- and 21st-century painters, in addition to feeling distinctly linked to particular places and times. The show moves fluidly between mediums – from photography and polaroid collages to iPad drawings and large-scale paintings – with chapters like Perspective Lesson, Roads & Paths, Drawing with a Camera, Looking Closely and Pools exploring different sides of his practice.
As immersive art grows in popularity, iconic works and lesser-seen pieces are finding new audiences – and in Bigger & Closer, Hockney delivers just that. Ambitious and multi-sensory, it invites you to step inside his creative process, from his experiments with perspective to his use of photography as a way of “drawing with a camera”.
Hockney’s work is as bold as it is colourful – containing as much sunlit melancholy as it does exuberant joy. Guided by a specially composed soundtrack by Nico Muhly, this radiant reimagining of his world offers a rare chance to experience Hockney’s art as he sees it, on a scale that makes every brushstroke, every line of thought, feel alive.
