(Hockney) Well it's certainly popular

Tate does this sort of thing well

I first visited Tate (as it was then) more than 40 years ago- it's Tate Britain now and I've never been to a more crowded exhibition than the current Hockney retrospective.



I'm not always a fan of these 'Blockbuster' exhibitions and do become increasingly irritated by people who bring pushchairs to crowded adult events but it's a good show but I enjoyed looking at some of his up-to-date work a couple of years back so wanted to see a more complete view of his oeuvre .



There's something about Greatest hits that is more attractive than ploughing through all the albums to find a few elusive gems that others have bypassed - well here I'd day there were whole 'albums' I'd been unaware of - the early stuff where he was finding a style and approach are patchy but things like the four seasons videos  more than compensate.


There are plenty of portraits - noticeably direct and often uncomfortable.

On show too are his works which look at water (A bigger splash amongst them) and his sometimes witty referential adaptation of the styles of other artists show his knowledge and skill.

Tate has curated the exhibition well )as you'd expect)  and I might even try and squeeze in another visit before the exhibition ends in a few days time (29th May).

So busy - school groups and all

Oh and the special neons (measuring it's said a bout 2kM) by the Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans are worth a look too

Like so much that is modern it references 'Duchamp'

Leaps and bounds

There's a feeling of speeding up £205