Spend time in the presence of one of the great popular geniuses of the art world still innovating, still creating beauty and awe.
Lightroom, London
David Hockney: Bigger & Closer opened on 22nd February 2023 and is the launch show for LIGHTROOM – an extraordinary four-storey-high space in Kings Cross equipped with the latest digital projection and audio technology.
Working with one of the worlds most acclaimed and popular living artists, 59 Productions has created a new kind of show which owes as much to Hockney’s theatrical design as to his painting, drawing and photography.
Hockney takes the audience on a personal journey through his art, featuring iconic paintings alongside some rarely seen pieces and some newly created work. His life-long fascination with the possibilities of new media is given vibrant expression in a show that invites visitors to see the world through his eyes.
LIGHTROOM, is a new venture set up by London Theatre Company and 59 Productions and is London’s new home for spectacular artist-led shows.
‘The much-loved British artist’s foray into new technology is a breathtaking triumph’
‘A coup of entertainment: accessible, affecting, and, technically, executed with panache. ‘
‘Unlike the immersive Van Gogh or Kahlo experiences – to which this is enormously superior – Hockney is present throughout’
‘Bigger and Closer foregrounds [Hockney’s] exceptional engagement with multiple media, his pleasure in collaboration, and the push-pull throughout his work between painterliness and design. It confirms his unique status: no other living painter has created enough beloved defining images to sustain such a performance’
‘An immersive experience that doubles up as a gloriously illustrated lecture.’
‘Bigger & Closer…pulls a six-decade career into the present and future. One hopes it will inspire other artists to experiment in other mediums and technologies with more confidence. David Hockney, of course, has nothing to prove, and so is fearless, but the art world as a whole has everything to gain from his kind of open-mindedness.’
Bigger & Closer Credits
Created by
David Hockney & Lightroom
Designed by
59 Productions
Written and Directed by
Mark Grimmer
David Hockney Studio
JP Conçalves de Lima
Jonathan Wilkinson
Hockney Pictures Inc
Rob Berg
Biaani Carrillo
James Corner
David Egan
Juan Carlos Elizondo
Julie Green
Shannan Kelly
George Snyder
Greg Rose
Elise Wille
Executive Producers
Richard Slaney
Nicholas Hytner
Nick Starr
59 Team
Project Director
Mark Grimmer
Video Designer
Nick Corrigan
Associate Video Designer
Felix Green
Designers
Dale Croft
Matt Taylor
Assistant Designers
Ash Kayser
Simran Phull
Lorna Pittaway
Animators
Lawrence Watson
Edd Stockton
Jarek Radecki
Emily Howells
Nick Corrigan
Felix Green
Associate Producer
Anna Jones
Assistant Producer
Hope Delicata
Music Editor
Philip Adams
Sound Designer
Gareth Fry
Lighting Designer
Ben Pearcy
Associate Lighting Designer
Aaron Porter
Video Programmer
Liam Daly
Editors
Nick Corrigan
Felix Green
Assistant Editor
Kate Mogridge
Image and Audio Credits
Thanks to the following rights holders for kind permission to use images and/or audio
Sidney B. Felsen, Suzanne Felsen, and Joni Felsen of Gemini GEL LLC; LACMA; National Gallery Australia; Louisiana Channel; the Van Gogh Museum; television/ audio interview with David Hockney from the series “Inside New York’s ArtWorld,” 1982, courtesy of Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel; materials provided by the Barbaralee Diamonstein- Spielvogel Collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University; Royal Collection Trust; ITV Archive; Arthaus Media; Mals Media; Studs Terkel Radio Archive, courtesy of Chicago History Museum and WFMT; BBC Archives; Paul Joyce of Lucida Productions; Getty Museum; Screenbound International Pictures Ltd; Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld & Geluid
