David Hockney’s iPad Drawings Get Paris Show

By Flavorwire Staff

November 15, 2010

Pop artist David Hockney’s use of the iPhone and iPad to make drawings of flowers and sunrises that he shares with his pals has been widely publicized over the past two years, but our friends at ARTINFO.com recently reported that Hockney’s whimsical works can now be seen in a Paris exhibition, titled Fleurs Fraîches (Fresh Flowers). “The British artist achieves stunning effects of texture and light on the iPad,” writes AI’s Grégory Picard about the show. “The iPhone images, while less detailed and more stylized, also present intriguing explorations of color and line.”

In 2009, Hockney told the Telegraph ’s Martin Gayford, “I draw flowers every day on my iPhone and send them to my friends, so they get fresh flowers every morning. And my flowers last. Not only can I draw them as if in a little sketchbook, I can also then send them to 15 or 20 people who then get them that morning when they wake up. Picasso would have gone mad with this. So would Van Gogh. I don’t know an artist who wouldn’t, actually.”

Using the Brushes app, the artist manipulates the iPhone with his thumbs and the iPad with his fingers to make luminous works. Although Hockney has made more than 600 drawings, the Paris exhibition, which was organized by his longtime friend, curator and cultural historian Charlie Scheips, presents around 300 pieces. Works in the Ali Tayer-designed exhibition are being shown on actual iPhones and iPads, as well as being projected at a larger size. New works are being adding throughout the run of the show.

“This is a serious component of work, in the context of David’s five-decade career,” Scheips told Vogue.com. “These flowers are ‘fresh’ in how new they are, how they’ve been sent, how they’re viewed, and the way they generate light.”

David Hockney: Fleurs Fraîches remains on view at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent in Paris through January 30.

Click through below for a gallery of images.

David Hockney, iPhone drawing © David Hockney

David Hockney: Fleurs Fraîches at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris