Made in 1964, “Plastic Tree Plus City Hall” by David Hockney is an acrylic painting in which a vibrant palm tree towers against a streaky skyline whilst white ellipses trail off to a miniscule skyscraper. Through his depiction of a palm tree and a skyscraper, Hockney is able to juxtapose organic and synthetic forms, but it is through his color choice, scale, and arrangement that the organic nature of the palm tree is questioned.
One way in which Hockey propels the concept of artificiality is by warping the general scale of the two objects with the piece. Extending from the bottom of the page through the abstract skyline, the palm tree seems enormous compared to the skyscraper to the right of it. Though one could argue that is to the effect of creating a sense of depth within the piece, most of the painting comes off as rather flat due to the trunk of the tree and the beige perimeter. It is this flatness and unreal proportion that give the painting as a …show more content…
Drawing from different color palettes, the palm tree takes on warm tones in green and copper, while city hall is depicted in cool tones, pale grays and blues. While Hockney does establish a dichotomy between natural and artificial, the palm tree and city hall, his choice of color is extremely significant as the vibrant tones of the tree make it appear almost plastic-like, blurring the line between the two sides and making viewers question whether the piece is grounded in nature at all.
“Plastic Tree Plus City Hall” by David Hockney is an acrylic painting that not only juxtaposes organic and manmade imagery, but through compositional arrangement, color choice, and scale manipulations, it blurs the line between the
One way in which Hockey propels the concept of artificiality is by warping the general scale of the two objects with the piece. Extending from the bottom of the page through the abstract skyline, the palm tree seems enormous compared to the skyscraper to the right of it. Though one could argue that is to the effect of creating a sense of depth within the piece, most of the painting comes off as rather flat due to the trunk of the tree and the beige perimeter. It is this flatness and unreal proportion that give the painting as a …show more content…
Drawing from different color palettes, the palm tree takes on warm tones in green and copper, while city hall is depicted in cool tones, pale grays and blues. While Hockney does establish a dichotomy between natural and artificial, the palm tree and city hall, his choice of color is extremely significant as the vibrant tones of the tree make it appear almost plastic-like, blurring the line between the two sides and making viewers question whether the piece is grounded in nature at all.
“Plastic Tree Plus City Hall” by David Hockney is an acrylic painting that not only juxtaposes organic and manmade imagery, but through compositional arrangement, color choice, and scale manipulations, it blurs the line between the