DAVID HOCKNEY A Bounce for Bradford (1987) Limited Edition Plate Signed

DAVID HOCKNEY - A Bounce for Bradford. Limited Edition - Plate Signed. One edition featured in the Hockney Exhibition at Tate Britain in 2017. 16.5 x 23.5 inches (42 x 60 cm).

David Hockney, (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. An important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. Hockney has a home and studio in Kensington, London and two residences in California, where he has lived on and off for over 30 years: one in Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, and an office and archives on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Originally, Hockney designed the print to support the Bradford's Bouncing Back campaign, which was devised by Bradford Council and the T&A and supported by many businesses and organisations, as a public morale-raiser along the lines of Glasgow's Miles Better publicity campaign.

Bradford's campaign had as its living logos people dressed up in bearskins, each one wearing a big round button bearing the message Bradford's Bouncing Back! Social and economic disaster following the recession of the late 1970s. More than 30,000 people were on the dole, there had been long-running battles over the serving of halal meat in schools and free speech as middle school head teacher Ray Honeyford defended himself against accusations of racism. On top of all this, the Bradford City fire in May 1985, which killed 56 people and injured 200 others, seemed to seal the Bradford's fate as a premier place for bad news.

Though far away in Los Angeles, Hockney liked the idea of his hometown fighting back against its national reputation and was willing to lend his name and support. Bradford Council had already started the fight back with its successful Bradford as a Surprising Place campaign to attract weekend tourists. The picture that Hockney designed perplexed some when it was published in the centre of a Bradford's Bouncing Back supplement on March 3,1987. It looked like a croquet ball rattling between hoops. For critics of the whole campaign it was no better than the inflatable red and white Santa Claus which broke free from its moorings at the top of City Hall's clock tower on a particularly blustery day and was last seen going west above Sunbridge Road.

Others saw the picture as symbolic of Bradford's attempt to rise above its worst modern disaster - the fire at Valley Parade. The fiery ball can be seen as an image for the sun, and the hoops a series of shadowed rainbows. It wasn't a throw-away to Hockney, who worked hard on it in his Los Angeles studio. Hockney got to hear of Sir Roger's views and so in 1987 entered a print of his Bounce For Bradford for the summer exhibition.

The public bought the copies available. It was Hockney's way of showing the establishment that he didn't need to be told how to be successful. One of these prints is in the collection at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, probably perceived to be the most important museum in the world for Modern / Contemporary art as well as several museums in the UK.

Please look at my other items including rare modern and contemporary art and design pieces. The item "DAVID HOCKNEY A Bounce for Bradford (1987) Limited Edition Plate Signed" is in sale since Wednesday, April 11, 2018. This item is in the category "Art\Art Prints". The seller is "ashbinx74" and is located in Bruton.

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Type: Modern - Limited Edition
Signed?: Signed in the plate
Artist: David Hockney
Style: Pop Art
Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
Medium: Lithograph
Features: Signed
Subject: Abstract
Originality: Limited Edition Print