Canal And Road, Kyoto
Canal And Road, Kyoto
Signed Print
David Hockney
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151 x 194cm, Edition of 10, Photographic print
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Meaning & Analysis
Canal And Road, Kyoto is a signed photographic print by David Hockney from 1982 that features a sprawling arrangement of still images against a grey background. Compared to other photo collages created by Hockney in the early 1980s, the departure from a one-point perspective in Canal And Road, Kyoto is even more striking. The strong presence of gaps in between pictures that were taken by Hockney from the bridge over a narrow canal in Kyoto endows the central composition with a particularly irregular and expansive shape.
Hockney introduces multiple perspectives into the composition, inviting the viewer’s gaze to move dynamically across the image. Through his unusual arrangement of pictures, the artist creates a fragmented yet sweeping view of street life, embracing a wide range of details and activities in his vicinity. Farthest to the left, we find a view of a narrow back street, separated from the rest of the composition by a concrete building. The view of the traffic appears on the right side, featuring a line of colourful cars against industrial architecture. Overall, this is more than could be embraced if one fixed their gaze on the canal from the same spot, in which the picture was taken. The purpose of this playful composition is to invite our gaze to scan the image from side to side, up and down, in the same way landscapes are looked at when encountered for the first time.