Everything Should Look Amateur- David Hockney outtake 44/80

This was my second trip up to Bridlington. David & J-P had recently got a 4x4 and had settled into a rhythm of painting and driving, recce-ing the Wolds countryside, sometimes off-road. David was going back to a traditional almost retro Impressionist mode. I was struggling with my old rather amateur Sony PD150 kit, soon replaced by the superior but by now ante-diluvian Sony Z1. Documentary film had recently embraced
grunge production standards - shaky camera, focus and exposure jumps - to inject ‘authenticity’. In a funny sort of way we were all going back to basics, out in the back of beyond, looking amateur, and not quite knowing where it was all going. I certainly didn’t.
The blockbuster success of the Royal Academy’s 2012 exhibition A Bigger Picture, devoted largely to Hockney’s Yorkshire period, gives my record of these early days a surreal quality, before the cosmetic actions of art history and myth start to smooth the narrative, of inevitable progress and triumph. Thinking back I remember those days as both exciting and slightly scary.
They were also perplexing times, because at that point I had stuck to the principle of keeping a proper documentary distance from my subject. I would be staying round the corner in gloomy boarding houses or
B&Bs, rather than as a guest in David’s very comfortable house (he buys his mattresses from the people who supply the Savoy Hotel). I was soon to change my mind and embed myself, because away from the
house I had absolutely no idea of what was happening or about to happen.
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This video is an outtake from David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Bruno Wollheim.
Watch the full film here: vimeo.com/onde...
Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, A Bigger Picture captures Britain’s most beloved painter at work. David Hockney’s return from California to paint the East Yorkshire landscape of his childhood - outside, in all weathers, through the seasons - culminates in the largest picture ever made outdoors. It’s an inspiring story of a painter in creative dialogue with nature and photography, and a revealing portrait of Britain’s most popular and celebrated artist.
“This wonderful film … will be of lasting importance for future generations who want to understand Hockney’s art.” Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4
“Bruno Wollheim’s portrait of this forthright magus is an unqualified, life-enhancing joy from start to finish.” - The Sunday Times
“This film may well be the best anyone will ever make about Hockney’s process.” - The Times, London.
“As gently hypnotic and fulfilling as one of Hockney’s own works.” - Time Out
“This impressive documentary is almost cinematic in its scope… both majestic and intimate” - The Observer
Watch the full documentary here: vimeo.com/2248...
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