David Hockney was born on the 9th of July 1937 in Bradford, England. He is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer who became well known for his involvement in the Pop-art artist movement. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. His early worked focusses on landscapes, portraiture and still life but as technology evolved so did his techniques where he was able to implement new methods and technologies to his artwork which moved him to also take in interest in photography and not just the artist side.

The artist’s style ranges from collaged photography and opera posters to Cubist-inspired abstractions and paintings of the English countryside. Hockney has many art pieces of swimming pools where he makes them abstract and more unique to his own artistic style. he is renowned for his own takes on perspective and use of colour which make his work noticeable and very obviously belonging to him. David Hockney uses the artist movement of Cubism in his artwork and photography. Cubism is a movement that was originated by artists such as Pablo Picasso. It presents photos in unique and abstract ways by breaking objects down into geometric shapes. Cubism is able to show multiple perspectives where it is able to give many viewpoints to the photo giving the viewer an opportunity to interpret the images in the way they think is correct for them. The movement steers away from realistic views and creates images you wouldn’t be able to capture without further disfigurement and so it mostly focusses on shape and structure. Though Hockney may not fully link all of his work to cubism he definitely manages to create artwork with the fragmented and abstract affects. he is able to deconstruct his photographs to make them more complex and interesting to the viewer. He created these fragmented images by taking many individual photographs and turning it into one piece.

Hockney has been inspired by many artists. Pablo Picasso has one of the biggest influences in Hockney’s life and oeuvre. This profound admiration is eloquently expressed in two significant works from this series: The Student and Artist And Model. These prints, produced during a time when Hockney resided in Paris following Picasso’s death, offer a visual dialogue that explores the depth of Hockney’s sense of indebtedness to one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary artists. Hockney found himself in a city with a rich artistic heritage that had been the subject of countless artworks. Hockney chose to honour the individuals who contributed to its vibrant art scene. Man Ray, an American who had made Paris his home for much of his life, became a natural subject for Hockney’s work. Richard Wagner, Known for his complex operas and innovative compositions, has been a lifelong influence on Hockney, influencing his professional endeavours such as the stage designs for Wagner’s Tristan Und Isolde in 1987 and inspiring his personal ‘Wagner drive’ initiative. 

Hockney is well known for his work that were labelled ‘Joiners’. This was his closest link with the cubism approach. The joiners series was created by Hockney using multiple snapshots from one picture and creating it into one image altogether. He took simple photos and turned them into disfigured art pieces which created the cubism affect and they became fragmented and unusual. Many people would describe his type of work like this as collages which is where pieces of the image can be seen to be set out in little pieces. this can be done in a usual art way where cut up paper is replaced onto another piece in the same layout but usually with some sort of overlapping affect. Hockney changed this norm and changed certain perspectives of his image where he might increase the size of a part of an and keep the rest at different sizes to create the collage affect but not in its usual way.

This image is an example of one of David Hockney’s joiners. In the image, it depicts a scene of an older woman asleep on a chair in where may be her own house. Hockney has taken this image in different sections as you can see some colour difference in certain fragments of the image. For example the fragment showing her arm looks more purple that the top of the woman’s clothing where her head is. Hockney has made the woman the focus of this image but hasn’t failed to represent the woman’s surroundings as has extended the image so that we can see out of the door behind her and get abetter understanding of her environment. Hockney’s joiners are usually seen as visual representation of time as a sequence of fragmented moments. the idea of fragmented time is prominent in this image as it could be representing the time the woman has left and how fragmented that time may be. as well as this is could be representing the woman’s age and possible fragments of her memory she has left as she could possibly slowly be losing it. the fragments of time could also represent being forgotten and how when the lady passes only fragments of her will be remembered as time passes on. The colour in this image isn’t focussed on the woman and only surrounds her. Hockney has made sure to add in the pop colours such as the blanket on the woman or the painting leaning against the wall. however the dark clothes of the woman and lack of colour that is actually on her could also represent how time is catching up to her and how it begins to fade away and all the colour is only just left behind.