Video No. 6062. English Language Pal VHS.
An Exploration of Art on Film.
Directed by Melissa Raimes.
British artist Howard Hodgkin (b. London 1932) is now acknowledged as among the greatest painters of modern times and one of the most original colourists of the 20th century. He has represented Britain at the Venice Biennale (1984) and won the Turner Prize for contemporary art in 1985. His extraordinary paintings exist at the margin between representation and abstraction: bright visions shot through with hints of recognisable form based on portraits, landscapes or still lives.
In this film Hodgkin explains that he takes a transient emotion and struggles to transform it into something concrete and lasting. "Memory," he says, "is probably the principal subject of all my pictures." This film presents a vibrant survey of Hodgkin's work, from his small, intimate paintings to his large-scale public commissions such as the stunning monochrome decoration of the British Council building in Delhi. It follows Hodgkin to Venice, a city that holds immense fascination for him: with its everchanging light, colour and shadows it has been the inspiration for many of his paintings.
In a revealing interview with Melvyn Bragg the artist talks about his use of colour, scale, materials, titles and framing, his choice of themes, the artists whom he admires, his experience of being a painter, and the passions and preoccupations that lie behind his art.
