Monday, October 12, 2009

David Hockney's iPhone Art Obsession

Picture 4
Picture 3

Lawrence Weschler, the Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University, has a brilliant story in the Oct. 22 issue of the New York Review of Books. It seems Weschler's friend, famed artist David Hockney, is obsessed with making art -- via his Brushes application on his iPhone.

(Witness above!)

Weschler explains: "Over the past six months, Hockney has fashioned literally hundreds, probably over a thousand, such images, often sending out four or five a day to a group of about a dozen friends, and not really caring what happens to them after that. (He assumes the friends pass them along through the digital ether.) These are, mind you, not second-generation digital copies of images that exist in some other medium: their digital expression constitutes the sole (albeit multiple) original of the image."

I want to be on that email list!

(Hockney art via the New York Review of Books).

12 comments:

Fifi Flowers said...

WOW!!! I didn't know about this application... must look into it although I prefer painting with a real brush... but what do they say... don't knock until you've tried it!
Merci for the story!
Fifi
BTW... Once sat next to him at a symphony performance... he fell asleep and snored a bit... LOL!!!

the real mia said...

Oooh, I just love David Hockney. Love LOVE love him. I never get tired of seeing his work.

The iPhone paintings sort of remind me of David Byrne's PowerPoint art. I have so much admiration for fine artist who have no snobbery when it comes to the medium, who can and do make art out of anything and everything. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Lucy in the Sky said...

It's so great to know that Hockney's still making art (though I must say I prefer his physical canvases!). Have you heard of Jorge Colombo?
http://www.20x200.com/artists/jorge-colombo.html

Unknown said...

Yes, while I prefer his canvas work, I still love his quiet observational style. I always liked how his art sought to capture a single moment and the fact that these images were created via a mobile phone, which to me, exemplifies of-the-moment technology, I think it's an appropriate medium for him.

Maia said...

Wow, and I had no idea the iPhone had such an application! I don't have one yet...I've been exercising great restraint, only because my husband has been promising me one for Christmas ;)

English Muse said...

A friend of mine said recently: We're in a new golden age -- via the Internet. I think it's true!

Shokoofeh said...

This is fantastic!
I don't know, can we can: Lucky us?! or maybe it's not that simple we think... anyway I love David Hockney and his iPhone!

:)
xo

Brandi said...

These are really awesome! I can't believe he captured a sunset so perfectly by just drawing on the iphone. Technology can be so cool...

chiaroscuro said...

These are so wonderful, I should try this application too - even if I don't expect to create such beautiful images.

Jen @ GreetQ.com said...

This raises an interesting question about art and its value. I wonder if "paintings" produced in this way can have value that can appreciate or decline? They certainly are lovely enough to frame!

Cassandra Dias said...

I just got a similar application for my itouch and it's so much fun!

Jill said...

thanks so much for this link (my phone hasn't even got a camera) but I am a big David Hockney fan.