David Hockney Inspires Social Isolation Competition

David Hockney provides inspiration for drawing competition to lift spirits during the coronavirus crisis

Earlier this year Ruth Mackenzie, the artistic director of Paris’s Châtelet Theatre, received a letter from David Hockney who spoke about the benefits of using art as a way to focus one’s attention while in quarantine. Noting an idea for a wider project and bringing French communities together, the idea of ‘Hope in Spring: draw like Hockney‘ was created as a production of the Châtelet Theatre, France Inter Radio and the Centre Pompidou.
British artist David Hockney poses in front of his painting entitled “The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire 2011 (twenty-eleven)” at the opening of his exhibition David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture in the Royal Academy of Arts on January 16, 2012 in London, England.
The article, written by Kim Willsher, notes that Hockney sent one of his works to the competition exclusively, and shared another nine. The competition will run until June 21, and 10 winners will be chosen via the trio of organisations presenting it.
Beyond the 10 winners, this project may well prove therapeutic to many of those who take part — giving them a newfound solace in the natural world during a turbulent time.
In an interview with the Guardian last month, Hockney urged people to draw during the lockdown. “I would suggest they really look hard at something and think about what they are really seeing,” he said.
Entries for ‘Hope in Spring: draw like Hockney’ can be sent to [email protected] or posted on social media with the hashtag #HockneyPrintemps
The deadline for entries is 21 June and 10 winning drawings will be selected from the three partner organisations in the event: the Châtelet theatre, France Inter radio and the Centre Pompidou and put on display.
For further information please visit theguardian.com
The Châtelet’s Hope in Spring competition on its magazine Tchat!