David Hockney’s Endless Scroll

The late artist’s digital paintings at Serpentine, Tate gets a new director, beyond the myth of Brazilian modernist Chico da Silva, and more.

“The iPad is a fascistic form of mark-making,” the delectably fiery Olivia McEwan writes. She’s talking about the late works of David Hockney, who passed away last month at 88, specifically a shimmering, digitally stitched scroll encircling the dim walls of the Serpentine Gallery. She prefers his physical paintings, let’s put it that away. Agree or disagree? Let us know.

But it raises the question of how we approach a late artist’s work. Two other pieces in today’s issue offer alternatives. We honor them, as in our weekly In Memoriam column, put together by yours truly. We plunge into history to salvage a different story, as Riverlines, an exhibition at David Nolan Gallery in New York, does in telling an intergenerational story of Brazilian modernist Chico da Silva and Amazonian art. Enjoy today’s issue — no judgment on our end if it happens to be on your “fascistic” iPad.

The Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century, 230-foot (~70-meter) linen that illustrates the story of the Norman conquest, has just returned to England after nearly a millennium for a forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum. Was David Hockney taking the piss out of this event by presenting an even longer 295-foot (~90-meter) composite iPad “painting,” titled “A Year in Normandie” (2020–21), at Serpentine Galleries in March?

Hockney, who died last month at age 88, argued against the Bayeux Tapestry’s loan from the French government due to the risk to the object, a concern expressed by numerous historians and scholars. Yet his Serpentine show, entitled A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting, cites Hockney’s “endless invention” through more than 100 printed iPad paintings digitally “stitched” together. Encircling the gallery interior, this work is meant to “encourage movement and close looking,” as the opening wall text states. | Olivia McEwan

Presenting da Silva with Amazonian artists of different generations undermines the Western notion of the artist as an isolated genius. | John Yau

This week, we honor an artist who explored human fragility through science, a pioneering British textile artist, and a champion of digital art.

The Bennett Prize – 2026/2027 Award Cycle

Most of the objectors to Denzel Washington’s accent are men who think too much about the Roman Empire. Here’s how the accent has changed throughout cinema. | Sarah Bond