© David Hockney

One of the most influential artists of our time, David Hockney is exhibiting at the Serpentine for the first time. His new works were created specifically for this space and reflect his life philosophy: that beauty is something to be celebrated.

In the central piece, A Year in Normandie, Hockney offers a complete, almost cinematic experience, showing us how a year can be truly lived during a pandemic lockdown. Not merely survived, but lived: by creating a masterpiece while observing the passage of time and nature from a single point of view. That this work was made on an iPad is beside the point, and also exactly the point: concept is the core of artistic expression, and the tool is just that, a tool.

The final version brings together all the individual drawings into one grand composition, ninety metres long, the measure of a human year.

Walking alongside the piece as it wraps around the gallery walls in a continuous ribbon, Hockney caught me off guard, pulling me back to my own pandemic year: how short it felt when the world shrank to whatever you could see from one fixed point, and yet how packed it was with small good things. So when you visit, you may find yourself doing the same, looking back at that strange period and, like Hockney, finding something worth keeping in the chaos.

© David Hockney

In addition to A Year in Normandie, the exhibition features ten new works by the 88-year-old artist: five still lifes and five portraits of people closest to him, offering a glimpse into his everyday life.

© David Hockney

You can visit the exhibition at Serpentine North Gallery until 23 August 2026 for free, though you’ll need to book a time slot in advance. But if you simply can’t imagine life without the meditative experience of queuing, the walk-in option is always there for you.