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Happy birthday Hockney: late British artist’s 89th marked with special London screening

A special evening is taking place at Lightroom in Kings Cross, while another exhibition continues to draw tens of thousands

The Art Newspaper
9 July 2026
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Hockney’s show at the Serpentine has drawn more than 200,000 people since it opened

Photo: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima

Hockney’s show at the Serpentine has drawn more than 200,000 people since it opened

Photo: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima

A London institution is honouring the late British artist (and all-round superstar) David Hockney on what would have been his 89th birthday. At Lightroom today (9 July), there is a special screening of Bigger & Closer, not smaller & further away, an immersive experience divided into “six chapters” that explores Hockney’s “personal journey through 60 years of his art”. The special screening of the project, which covers his polaroid collages and recent iPad works, will benefit the Royal Drawing School, a charity founded by King Charles which Hockney supported.

Over at the Serpentine North in Kensington Gardens, meanwhile, crowds are flocking to Hockney’s show A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting—in fact more than 200,000 people have so far seen the artist’s monumental frieze A Year in Normandie (2020-2021) in one of the most popular exhibitions ever held at the gallery. The show closes on 23 August but in the final weeks opening hours will be extended until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays so that visitors can see Hockney’s work at dusk (don’t miss his mural in the garden at Serpentine North either). The merch is also worth a look, with stellar Hockney products available such as a hand-decorated vase, a picnic blanket, cushions and drinks trays and caps.


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