The Lightroom is a new home for spectacular artist-led shows in London’s revamped Kings Cross area. It is located in Lewis Cubitt Square, adjacent to Coal Drops Yard and Central St Martin’s. It was designed by Haworth Tompkins as a sister space to the award-winning Bridge Theatre. Lighthouse is launching its debut program with a collaboration with David Hockney in January 2023, in which they invite the world’s leading creative minds to use our vast space and revolutionary technology to create something completely new.
With Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), David Hockney will turn his works – both well-known, rarely seen and new pieces – into an immersive experience and it will be the first show to open Lightroom. Through numerous methods, the exhibition hopes to allow attendees “to see the world through [Hockney’s] eyes”.
As the rush to exhibit famous art works using VR and immersive tech continue, the exhibition will offer some of the same draw. For example, large-scale projections and animation, alongside a commissioned score, will let users step amongst his works. But, it also hopes to invite users to take a journey into his process, via commentary from Hockney himself. The release explains that we will be able to watch his experiments with perspective, how he uses photography as a way of drawing with a camera, as well as how he captures time using polaroid and spring through an iPad.
Hockney’s process will be revealed in a cycle of six themed chapters, with a specially composed score by Nico Muhly. The release adds: “We join [Hockney] on his audio-visual Wagner Drive, roaring up into the San Gabriel Mountains, and into the opera house by means of animated re-creations of his stage designs.” Lightroom – a joint venture between 59 Productions and London Theatre Company – worked with Hockney for three years to bring the project to fruition.
Nicholas Hytner, executive producer commented “What’s so exciting about this show is how authentically Hockney it is. Listening to his voice in this astonishing new space while seeing his artworks unfurl around the four walls is going to be both an experience and an education. It suggests how potent this medium will be for the other creators and artists with whom we will make new and original Lightroom shows in the years to come.”.
Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) will run from 25 January until 23 April 2023. https://lightroom.uk/2 Lewis Cubitt Square London N1C 4DY
P.S. We absolutely love this recent photograph of Sir David which was taken when he had lunch with King Charles at Buckingham Palace. It’s all about the crocs!!
