British artist David Hockney died at age 88 last week, leaving an oasis-shaped void in our collective imagination. In sun-bleached paintings of California swimming pools, psychological portraits, and later in collages and digital works, he wielded color like few artists before or since and depicted gay relationships with sensitivity and care. Today, Associate Editor Lisa Yin Zhang remembers the work of the prolific, beloved artist and “restless experimenter.”
As July rapidly approaches and “America 250” celebrations shift into high gear, Staff Reporter Rhea Nayyar has a guide to must-see art exhibitions that challenge, reframe, and unsettle the history of the United States. More as always, including critic Eileen G’Sell on a new 4K restoration of the iconic 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor
Painter David Hockney, Who Made the Everyday Otherworldly, Dies at 88
Best known for paintings that imbued the everyday with an otherworldly stillness, psychologically precise portraits, and crystalline pool scenes, Hockney also explored printmaking, photography — even stage design for ballet and opera — across his prolific career of more than half a century. He was a restless experimenter, using computer graphics in his work as early as the 1980s and exploring digital painting on his iPad late in life.
He was a pioneer of LGBTQ+ rights — one of the first popular artists to create work depicting gay relationships, and one of the few to publicly denounce censorship of queer imagery. | Lisa Yin Zhang
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News
- The Knicks and Spurs game gets an arts wager: San Antonio’s Department of Arts and Culture challenged the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs to a friendly competition ahead of Game 5 on Saturday night.
The United States at 250
25 Art Shows Reckoning With the US at 250
From Indigenous survivance to quilting to modernism, these exhibitions and projects reframe and challenge the story of the United States. | Rhea Nayyar
From Our Critics
“I Shot Andy Warhol” Upends the Myth of the Great Man
The radical feminist author of “SCUM Manifesto” and the bygone world of Warhol’s Factory come to life in the 1996 film, now restored to 4K. | Eileen G’Sell
A Kind of Paradise: Reclaiming Colonial-Era Photography Through Contemporary Art
At Museum Rietberg, 20 global artists transform colonial photographs into new narratives of memory, identity, and resistance.
Community
A View From the Easel: Daniel Correa Mejía
“Without the fabric there would be no painting,” said the artist, who fills his shared studio with seeds, family photographs, and music that puts him in a painting trance.
Member Comment
Melanie Cohn on “They Want to Control Our Imagination”
From the Archive
The World Is Finally Ready for Mina Loy
A book honors the overlooked 20th-century female artist. | Lauren Moya Ford
