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The Painting of Modern Life at The Hayward

London SE1 website team

The Hayward's latest show is an exploration of how painters have used and responded to photographic images.

David Hockney - Le Parc Des Sources, Vichy (1970)
David Hockney - Le Parc Des Sources, Vichy (1970)

"This show presents a kind of unofficial history, in that this wasn't a group or a movement and it's not something you can read about in an art history book," explains Hayward director Ralph Rugoff, who has curated this exhibition himself.

"The show looks at the different ways artists have used photographic sources to confront images of the world around them.

"I think a lot of these artists are interested in slowing down the way we look at images.

"The painting adds another layer of removal from the original real thing that that photograph was documenting. There's a little more space.

"I think it creates a space from the subject matter that allows you to think about how we picture those kinds of subjects. It also creates a space that I think we fill with our imaginations."

The show includes 100 paintings spanning five decades. The 22 featured artists include Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Peter Doig and Elizabeth Peyton.

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