A Trip to Hockney’s Studio in Los Angeles

A fond memory of the late David Hockney. His brilliant sets for the opera Turandot were coming to San Diego and I thought this would be a good occasion to interview him. I recalled it taking place in the early 2000s while recording this video. But going back to the story it was 1997. Time really is elastic in the sphere of memory.

I happily made the drive to his studio in the Hollywood Hills. He was working on portraits for an exhibition in London, as well as some vibrant flower paintings. About his forays into opera sets, he said, “I’m an amateur, an absolute amateur, and I really love it.” The great originality of those sets makes his claim sound modest in the extreme; he brought originality to every medium he employed.