A birthday party and new gallery for Hockney as he turns 80

Now as the artist David Hockney turns 80, a new gallery is being opened in his honour in the very place that inspired him as a youngster.

Hockney, who was born in Bradford on July 9, 1937, has spent the last six decades working as an artist.

A gallery about his life and work opens at Cartwright Hall on Friday where visitors will be able to see the city’s “unrivalled” public collection of early work and watch previously unseen footage of the artist.

Key items include two sketchbooks from the 1950s when he was at school and then Bradford School of Art which have not been seen in public before.

It is being followed on Sunday by a Hockney Party in the Park, where people can create Hockney-inspired costumes to be part of either of two ensembles.

The Pool Party recalls the vibrant swimming pools of Los Angeles which made an instant impression on the artist when he came into land in California in the winter of 1963; while the Sausage Dog Stampede celebrates Hockney’s beloved dachshunds Stanley and Boogie, who have often featured in his work. After returning to Yorkshire to live in Bridlington between 2006 and 2013, Hockney dedicated himself to painting hundreds of landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds.