![\"Nicole](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/e65c7906cc6d76c7185cda53557e9c757a5502c5.jpeg\")
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October 20, 2026 \u2014 4:34pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A blockbuster immersive show of works from the late, acclaimed British artist David Hockney makes its Australian debut at Carriageworks this week. David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) was created in collaboration between production house Lightroom London and the artist himself before his death aged 88 in June this year.<\/a><\/p>\n It first opened in 2023 in London and has since been seen by more than 650,000 attendees globally with stints in South Korea, China and Singapore.<\/p>\n Lightroom London chief executive Richard Slaney said the idea was sparked by other immersive exhibitions showcasing the works of artists such as Van Gogh and Monet.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were great, but in watching them I thought wouldn\u2019t it be interesting if you did that with a living artist?\u201d Slaney said. Hockney was the clear choice as a multimedia artist who had worked across painting, photography, stage design and digital media, with a practice that embraced new technology.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent three years working on it with him, so he chose all the work that\u2019s in it, he designed the show with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Slaney remembers Hockney being with the team every day for three-and-a-half months for the creation of the Lightroom venue in London, sitting in a hard hat, chain-smoking on the building site.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was freezing cold. It was awful in many ways, but [Hockney] didn\u2019t care because all he cared about was making the work. We all learnt so much from him.\u201d<\/p>\n At a media preview on Tuesday morning ahead of the show\u2019s opening on Thursday, Carriageworks chief executive Fergus Linehan welcomed attendees beneath a banner emblazoned with a quote from Hockney, \u201cIf you\u2019re not playful, you\u2019re not alive\u201d. Describing him as \u201cone of the most beloved artists of our time\u201d, Linehan said the show was for Hockney an opportunity to \u201cput the viewer right in the centre of his work in a way that hadn\u2019t been possible before\u201d.<\/p>\n Walking into the show, one enters through a dim passageway before coming to a room with soaring illuminated walls reaching almost to the ceiling where a continual 50-minute loop plays pieces from throughout Hockney\u2019s 60 years of artistic practice. In the narration Hockney shares his thoughts on perspective, scale and colour, with viewers looking at his famous pool paintings, his sprawling photographic collages, his later period iPad paintings, and, in one of the most exciting sections, an examination of his perhaps lesser-known work as a designer for opera, which is brought to life with vivid animation.<\/p>\n The images are projected 360 degrees around the space, at times creeping onto the floor, and viewers can either walk up to a higher platform for a bird\u2019s-eye view or sit on benches in the middle for an almost overwhelming flood of light and colour.<\/p>\n The works are also paired with an excellent soundtrack especially created by American composer Nico Muhly for Bigger & Closer, while the narration from Hockney draws on both archival interviews and new recordings for the show. Listeners can enjoy him dropping truth bombs like \u201cthe world is very beautiful if you look at it \u2013 but most people don\u2019t look\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re put inside David Hockney\u2019s artworks, but also a little bit inside his mind,\u201d Slaney said of the immersive experience. \u201cHe\u2019s guiding you through whatever you\u2019re looking at, so you get this insight into different elements of his process, how he thinks about the world. We talk about it having the intimacy of a podcast, but the scale of an IMAX \u2013 it\u2019s huge and intimate at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n The show debuting in Sydney is almost the same as the one that toured the world, but following Hockney\u2019s death, one small but touching change has been made.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe put a portrait of him at the end according to the wishes of his family,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cA photograph we took of him in Lightroom in London added at the end with his dates. I think it was important for us to show to the audience that he was there. That\u2019s the only change.\u201d<\/p>\n For Linehan Bigger & Closer is a fittingly mammoth celebration of Hockney\u2019s outsized legacy and one that welcomes both avid fans of his work and those seeing it for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful, summery, joyous experience which, even though we didn\u2019t intend it to be, is this glorious final coda to the life of this brilliant artist,\u201d Linehan said. \u201cIt\u2019s done with such precision and intentionality and love that I think people who are serious art lovers will find a lot in it and if you don\u2019t know anything about David Hockney you\u2019ll still have a lovely time.\u201d<\/p>\n David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)<\/a> is at Carriageworks from October 22 to January 24.<\/p>\n Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0a5c7f7180a82b63a0543dcdf36098f4554e88fe.jpeg\")
A young art fan enjoys the new Hockney exhibition at Carriageworks. James Brickwood<\/p>\n![\"Hockney\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/b125ab0868544cfe4eb99b9e7a28dc434f1167af.jpeg\")
Hockney\u2019s words guide patrons through the exhibition. James Brickwood<\/p>\n![\"Hockney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/bb37aef5eab55274e583acfeeea4e8ad0505eddf.jpeg\")
Hockney died in June, but he spent several years working with the exhibition\u2019s creators. James Brickwood<\/p>\n![\"Fergus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7bd2187eeb067d1eca21971ce1f61bae6704cd3e.jpeg\")
Fergus Linehan and Lightroom CEO Richard Slaney at Carriageworks, earlier this year when the exhibition was announced.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/c2ec33fa914597fe21441d60297b972282ed6ccd.jpeg\")
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