The Walker Art Gallery hosts a major exhibition of David Hockney’s early work which is set to get the crowds flocking to Liverpool. The sculptor is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and this show brings together a unique selection of paintings and prints which chart his early development.
Called David Hockney: Early Reflections it features work from the Walker’s own collection, including Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool, which won the John Moores Painting Prize in 1967, together with key pieces from the Arts Council Collection and other loans. With almost 40 pieces on display dating from 1960 to 1978, the exhibition is an insight into Bradford-born Hockney’s talent which was evident even as a student.
Through recurring obsessions such as the evolving references to his own homosexuality, depictions of the reflective qualities of water and his persistent return to portraiture, the exhibition reveals how his style, which flourished during the 1960s, had changed dramatically by the early 1970s. The exhibition is part of the Homotopia festival 2013.
For details visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/hockney
The Story of our Coast: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy is a new exhibition at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery in Lymington, which looks at how the ever-changing south Hampshire coast has played a defining role in the area’s history and why it has been a source of fascination for centuries.
Opening on November 30, it will run until January 2014. The coast has been central to the development of Lymington, its salt industry, port and boat building, and to the growth of Milford and Barton as seaside resorts. Its strategic importance is shown by the building of Hurst Castle by Henry VIII and the World War II anti-invasion defences. The coast has inspired myths and stories that have become entwined with fact such as giant tidal waves engulfing houses and tunnels where smugglers hid their booty.
The exhibition also asks if the failed attempts at developing the area (with a suspension bridge at Lymington for example) are a good thing or that had they worked would they have changed the region for the better.
Tickets to The Story of our Coast and St Barbe Museum cost £4 for adults and £2 for students. For more details visit www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk or telephone 01590 676969. IP