David Hockney : The Moon Room
May 15 - Aug 14, 2026
Pace Gallery, 540 W 25th St, New York, NY 10001
This is my review of the David Hockney exhibition. Not long ago, David Hockney’s iPad drawing exhibition opened in Chelsea. The pieces in this show were all created during the 2020 pandemic while the artist was staying at his farm, capturing the various phases of the moon. They are delicate works of nature observation, recorded as he closely watched the shapes and light of the moon. He shared that he was able to draw even during the darkest hours because he had his iPad.
I remember being incredibly amazed when I first saw Hockney’s iPad drawings. It made me realize how open-minded and forward-thinking he is compared to any younger artist, always embracing new challenges with curiosity and boldness, even at an advanced age. A master truly doesn't become a master by accident; it's easy to talk about, but keeping such an open mind like Hockney does is no small feat. Seeing him consistently use the iPad as a creative medium brought me a sense of inspiration that was greater than anything else.
The Moon Room
Featuring fifteen iPad paintings of the night sky produced between April and December 2020, Pace’s exhibition will be the first showing of the Moon Room series in New York. In these meditative compositions, Hockney captures the moon’s changing phases from various vantage points on his twelve-acre farm. Inspired by his daily observations, he devoted himself to the iPad, a medium of unique immediacy that allowed him to be prolific in his depictions of his home and the changing seasons in the surrounding countryside.
“Once, when we were just sitting outside the house, we put all the lights off in the house to see the moonlight more clearly,” Hockney has said of the making of this series. “The moon could then be seen to cast shadows of the trees on the grass, so with my backlit iPad, I could draw it. This would have been virtually impossible without it.”
This body of work reflects his deep and enduring interest in light and nature’s ephemerality and renewal. Poetic and dreamlike, the Moon Room paintings made their public debut in 2024 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, the largest city and capital of Normandy. A full gallery was also dedicated to the Moon works in the artist’s monumental survey at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2025
Original Text from Pace Gallery
페이스(Pace) 갤러리는 5월 15일부터 August 14일까지 뉴욕 웨스트 25번가 540번지에 위치한 갤러리에서 데이비드 호크니의 '문 룸(Moon Room)' 시리즈 iPad 회화 전시를 개최합니다. 호크니는 코로나19 팬데믹 기간 동안 노르망디에 있는 자신의 17세기풍 반목조 농가에 격리되어 있는 동안 이 작품들을 제작했습니다. 이번 전시는 2009년 페이스 갤러리에서의 첫 주요 전시 이후, 작가가 이 갤러리와 함께하는 열 번째 개인전이 됩니다.
2020년 4월부터 12월 사이에 제작된 밤하늘을 담은 15점의 iPad 회화를 선보이는 이번 페이스 갤러리의 전시는 뉴욕에서 '문 룸' 시리즈를 처음으로 공개하는 자리입니다. 명상적인 분위기를 자아내는 이 작품들 속에서 호크니는 자신의 12에이커(약 1만 5천 평) 규모 농장의 다양한 위치에서 바라본 달의 변화무쌍한 위상을 포착해 냈습니다. 매일매일의 관찰에서 영감을 얻은 그는 즉각적인 표현이 가능한 독특한 매체인 iPad에 몰두했고, 이를 통해 자신의 집과 주변 시골의 변화하는 계절을 다채롭고 풍성하게 그려낼 수 있었습니다.
호크니는 이 시리즈의 제작 과정에 대해 "한번은 집 밖에 그냥 앉아 있을 때, 달빛을 더 또렷하게 보려고 집 안의 전등을 모두 껐다"라며, "그러자 잔디 위로 나무 그림자를 드리운 달이 보였고, 백라이트가 나오는 iPad 덕분에 그 모습을 그릴 수 있었다. iPad가 없었다면 사실상 불가능했을 일이다"라고 말한 바 있습니다.
이 작품 군은 빛과 자연의 덧없음, 그리고 회복에 대한 그의 깊고 지속적인 관심을 반영합니다. 시적이고 꿈같은 분위기를 자아내는 '문 룸' 회화들은 노르망디의 수도이자 최대 도시인 루앙의 미술관(Musée des Beaux-Arts)에서 2024년에 대중에게 첫 선을 보였습니다. 또한, 2025년 파리 루이비통 재단 미술관(Fondation Louis Vuitton)에서 열린 작가의 기념비적인 회고전에서도 한 전시실 전체가 이 달(Moon) 작품들을 위해 온전히 할애되기도 했습니다.
The exhibition wasn't large in scale, but they recreated a nighttime atmosphere throughout the gallery space, which managed to capture the mood of the dark farm to some extent. Unlike Hockney's usual paintings, the presentation felt much more calm and dreamlike, offering a uniquely different vibe. I didn't know which gallery represented David Hockney here in New York, so it was wonderful to find out this time, especially since I usually only remember seeing his work in museums.
As an artist who relentlessly embraces new challenges without hesitation, I am already looking forward to seeing where and with what kind of exhibition he will surprise us next. Thank you.