David Hockney – In A Printing Machine – London 1 May – 11 July 2009

Artist: Hockney, David
Publisher: Annely Juda
Price: £30 including postage in the UK
Publication Date: 2009
Edition: First edition
Size: Quarto
Condition: Fine

Condition:

The hardcover catalogue of the exhibition held at Annely Juda Gallery. Illustrated throughout in colour. A fine copy.

David Hockney – In A Printing Machine: A Brief Overview

London, 1 May – 11 July 2009

Context and Curatorial Premise

In a Printing Machine (2009), presented at Annely Juda Fine Art, marked a pivotal moment in David Hockney’s late-career engagement with printmaking. The exhibition took its title from Hockney’s own description of his working process—suggesting both immersion and authorship within the mechanical systems of reproduction.

Rather than treating printmaking as secondary to painting, the exhibition asserted it as a primary site of innovation, foregrounding Hockney’s sustained investigation into how images are constructed, layered, and disseminated.

The show coincided with, and in many respects extended, the publication of the major print catalogue raisonné David Hockney Prints 1954–77, situating the exhibition within a longer historical trajectory of his graphic practice.

Structure of the Exhibition

1. Multi-Plate Etchings and Lithographs: Complex Image Construction

At the core of the exhibition were large-scale prints produced through multi-plate etching and lithographic processes, often involving numerous colour separations.

Key technical features included:

• Layered plate systems: Individual colour plates were printed sequentially, requiring exacting registration.
• Hybrid techniques: Hockney combined etching, aquatint, and lithography to achieve tonal and textural variation.
• Deliberate artificiality: Colour was often non-naturalistic, emphasising the constructed nature of the image.

These works demonstrate Hockney’s deep technical fluency. Unlike traditional printmakers who aim for seamless illusion, Hockney frequently allowed the mechanics of printmaking—edges, overlaps, and colour shifts—to remain visible, reinforcing the idea of the image as an assembled object.

2. Yorkshire Landscapes: Reframing Place Through Print

The exhibition also included prints based on the Yorkshire landscape, a subject that would soon dominate Hockney’s practice.

These works:

• Translate direct observation into highly mediated graphic form
• Use bold contour lines and planar colour rather than atmospheric modelling
• Emphasise structure over naturalism, often simplifying forms into rhythmic patterns

This approach situates Hockney within a lineage that includes modernist printmakers such as Picasso, while also anticipating the more expansive treatment of landscape in his later paintings and digital works.

3. Photographic and Digital Integration

Although primarily focused on traditional printmaking, the exhibition revealed Hockney’s increasing interest in photographic and digital technologies:

• Some works incorporated photographic reference material
• Others explored computer-assisted colour separation and composition

This hybridisation reflects a broader methodological shift: printmaking becomes not just a reproductive medium, but a site of synthesis between analogue and digital processes.

Thematic and Conceptual Analysis

Printmaking as Primary Practice

A central argument of the exhibition is that printmaking is not subordinate to painting. Instead, it is a generative discipline in its own right, capable of producing complex, original works.

The Artist “Inside” the Machine

The title encapsulates Hockney’s conceptual position: he is not external to the printing process but embedded within it. This reflects:

• A rejection of passive reproduction
• An embrace of mechanical collaboration
• A focus on process as authorship

Multiplicity and Seriality

Printmaking inherently involves multiples, and Hockney exploits this:

• Variations between editions become meaningful
• Repetition is used as a tool for exploration
• The notion of a singular “original” is destabilised

Dialogue with Art History

The works engage with earlier traditions:

• Picasso’s experimental printmaking
• Matisse’s use of line and colour
• British landscape traditions, refracted through modernist abstraction

Technical Authority and Craft

From a technical perspective, the exhibition demonstrated exceptional mastery:

• Precise plate registration across complex compositions
• Sophisticated understanding of ink behaviour and paper interaction
• Willingness to push processes beyond conventional limits

Hockney worked closely with master printers, yet maintained direct control over aesthetic decisions—ensuring that technical execution remained aligned with artistic intent.

Critical Reception and Market Position

Critically, the exhibition reinforced Hockney’s reputation as one of the most important living printmakers:

• Praised for technical ambition and inventiveness
• Recognised as a significant extension of his graphic oeuvre

From a market perspective:

• Large-scale editioned prints attracted strong collector interest
• The exhibition contributed to a reassessment of printmaking as a serious, high-value medium within contemporary art

Significance within Hockney’s Oeuvre

In a Printing Machine occupies a crucial position in Hockney’s career:

• It consolidates decades of engagement with printmaking
• It anticipates his subsequent move into digital drawing (iPhone/iPad works from 2009 onwards)
• It bridges analogue and digital methodologies

Importantly, the exhibition demonstrates that Hockney’s practice is not medium-specific but concept-driven, with each medium selected for its capacity to extend his investigation into perception and image-making.

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