Pushing Up
Signed Print

A characteristically striking and ambiguous work from the Some More New prints series, Pushing Up treads the line between abstraction and figuration. Strange shapes rise up from the floor of what could be a room, the floor covered in black ink like an oil slick, the space dominated by strange tentacle or slug like shapes in contrasting colours, covered in gestural marks. The effect is incredibly painterly, demonstrating Hockney's mastery of lithography as a medium within which he could experiment and challenge preconceptions of printmaking. Here we see him translating and evolving earlier ideas and effects from series such as Some New Prints and Some New Paintings, into fantastical compositions that capture the viewer’s eye. The works in the Some More New prints series, to which Pushing Up belongs, also reference a series of stage sets Hockney was commissioned to paint for the opera Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Commenting on this work the artist said, “These started simply and grew more and more complex. I soon realized that what I was doing was making internal landscapes, using different marks and textures to create space, so that the viewer wanders around.” Here we can see those ideas applied to the medium of lithography to striking effect.