David Hockney: Gallagher & Turner

The work of David Hockney (b. 1937) was discovered by influential dealer and gallerist John Kasmin while Hockney was still a student at the Royal College of Art, building Londons pop art scene alongside Peter Blake and RB Kitaj.  Kasmin bought his first Hockey painting from the 1961 Young Contemporaries  exhibition, marking the beginning of a long relationship. Kasmin speaks most highly of Hockneys graphic works, describing his prints as inventive, flowing and happy. This exhibition brings together work from the celebrated Brothers Grimm suite of etchings, published by Kasmins  gallery in 1970. When selecting from over 200 stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, Hockney was drawn to what he described as the psychological strangeness of the tales depicted in this exhibition. They allowed him to explore the relationships and  motivations of the characters, and presented the challenge of depicting the supernatural and surreal. The resulting work has an unmistakably personal approach. Works such as A Black Cat Leaping and Inside the Castle use the same perspective  devices as Hockneys earlier portraiture, implying the artists point of view, and a  relationship between the artist and (imaginary) sitter. Hockneys technical mastery of etching was already evident in his re-imagining of Hogarths A Rakes Progress, published in the early 1960s. The Brothers Grimm suite shows a more refined approach to the medium, dispensing with  colour and exploring the subtleties offered by intaglio techniques. Solid line and deep-biting aquatint give depth, with traditional cross-hatching and softground plates providing texture and tone. Six Tales from The Brothers Grimm is the first exhibition in Gallagher &  Turners new gallery space on St Marys Place, Newcastle upon Tyne. Alongside a sister gallery and workshop space in Newcastles creative hub at Hoults Yard (due to open in May 2016), Gallagher & Turner will present an ever-changing  programme of selling exhibitions, specialising in the best of 20th century  British art, alongside some of our favourite local artists and international names.