David Hockney – The world is at your doorstep.

When I heard the news of David Hockney's death, I immediately thought of the great exhibition at BOZAR in Brussels, which I was fortunate enough to visit in 2021. Much has been written and analyzed about Hockney – but ultimately, his pictures speak for themselves.

With my eyes closed, his famous, sun-drenched swimming pool scenes from California first appear before my inner vision. Few artists have captured light, color, and a sense of life as impressively as Hockney. In many of these works, he also addressed queer relationships, creating images that are still considered icons of modern art today.

However, I was particularly impressed by his iPad drawings created in Normandy during the Corona pandemic. Under the motto "Remember, they can’t cancel spring," he captured nature's ever-renewed awakening and gave people joy, hope, and confidence during a difficult time. At the same time, he showed that artistic curiosity knows no age. Hockney used digital media not as a mere tool, but as a new possibility for creative expression.

Similar to Erwin Plönes , David Hockney also took up classical themes of art history; both artists dedicated themselves to landscapes, seasons, and still lifes. But he developed his own visual language from them. His swimming pools under the sun became an unmistakable motif and showed his personal approach to Pop Art.

Hockney always remained experimental. He effortlessly switched between drawing, printmaking, painting, photocollage, and digital techniques. His work impressively shows that tradition and innovation do not have to be opposites, but can enrich each other.

A statement by Hockney, which he himself attributed to Vincent van Gogh, perhaps best summarizes his positive attitude to life:

"The glorious world is right outside your door in the garden. You just have to look at it."

This invitation to conscious seeing runs like a red thread through his entire oeuvre. David Hockney leaves behind not only a significant artistic body of work but also the reminder that beauty is often closer than we think. Joy through seeing!