The Palm Springs Art Museum presents David Hockney: Perspective Should Be Reversed, a major exhibition running through March 31st, 2025. Showcasing nearly 200 works spanning six decades, the exhibition explores Hockney’s groundbreaking experiments with perspective and his use of diverse media, including prints, collages, and iPad drawings. Curated in collaboration with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the show highlighs Hockney’s artistic innovation and his role as a pioneer of LGBTQ+ representation.
Hockney’s Tower Perspective Reversed illustrates his mastery of digital technology. The 2014 piece merges reality and imagination, depicting friends in a room centered around a red table that appears to move toward the viewer, challenging traditional spatial depth. Similarly, his 1982 photographic collage My Mother Los Angeles reflects Cubist-inspired perspectives, blending intimate moments with chaotic surroundings.
A standout feature is Hockney’s series of 2021 iPad floral paintings, displayed against vivid Wedgewood blue walls. These works highlight his embrace of digital tools to create vibrant, intricate compositions. Also on display are lithographs inspired by C.P. Cavafy’s poetry, featuring tender depictions of intimacy and friendship.
The exhibition also includes sexually provocative early works that celebrate Hockney’s identity, aligning with the museum’s Q+ initiative supporting LGBTQ+ art. Prints of notable figures like Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy provide further insight into Hockney’s personal and creative worlds.
Curator Christine Vendredi and director Adam Lerner have expanded the exhibition to underscore Hockney’s enduring relevance. “This exhibition is both joyful and essential,” says Schnitzer, highlighting its celebration of art that challenges conventions.
Self Portrait IV, 25 March 2012, edition 10/25, 2012
Joe With Green Window, edition 1/54, 1979
My Mother, Los Angeles, Dec. ’82, edition 13/20, 1982
