Apples, Grapes, Lemon On A Table

In the top half of the image a bunch of grapes, two apples – one red, one green – and a lemon sit on a plane in space, recalling their Platonic ideals. The bottom half reveals this neutral surface to be part of an antique table, its lack of ornament or detail on top made up for with its scroll-like legs and elaborate knob. A green rug adds another plane of colour to this dynamic composition which represents one of Hockney’s many experiments with a photocopying machine as part of his Home Made Prints series.

Before the mid ’80s Hockney had worked primarily across etching and lithography within his prints but with the purchase of an office photocopier he was able to find more agency in his process, which allowed him to work without the help of an assistant to prepare plates for him or to guide him through a complicated printing process. While etching offered some independence it was tricky to use colour; here the photocopier became an ideal substitute, allowing him to layer colours – and textures – as he might in a screen print. With this subversion of medium Hockney also subverts the very traditional subject of the still life, filling it with the dynamism and colour of ’80s and ’90s graphics, and joining a long line of artists who have reinterpreted the still life over the centuries.