David Hockney Bradford, England, b. 1937

David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, in 1937.

He studied at the Bradford School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. In 1964 he moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first swimming pool paintings and began taking Polaroids. In 1978 he made Los Angeles his permanent residence. He has taught at various universities in the United States and Europe.

Hockney paints seascapes, vegetal motifs, portraits of his family and friends, and large-scale landscapes; he has also worked with computer drawing. His work is exuberant and joyful. Hockney has also designed sets and costumes for various ballet and opera productions, and has been involved in both fiction and documentary filmmaking.

He has received over 50 awards, including the Order of the Companion of Honour from the Queen of England and the Premio Internazionale Lorenzo il Magnifico alla Carriera at the 4th Florence Biennale.

His solo exhibitions are numerous. Notable venues include the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona; the Florence Biennale; the Royal Academy of Arts, London; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Whitney Biennial; the National Portrait Gallery, London; and Tate Britain.

Among the many institutions that hold his work are Tate Gallery, London; the Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; MoMA; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Smithsonian, Washington, DC; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; MUMOK, Vienna; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.