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A new art installation from David Hockney will light up London, L.A. and NYC next week

This is one sunrise you won't want to miss.

Written by
Sarah Medina
Travel Editor, North America
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You might be sick of screens, but this is one virtual event you're not going to want to miss.

Celebrated British artist David Hockney is bringing a new sun to five cities around the world next week. A chrysanthemum-esque depiction of the light – created on the artist’s iPad while in Normandy, France – in video form will be broadcast on billboards in London, New York City, Los Angeles, Seoul and Tokyo, as well as online. 

The video is called "Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long" and is meant to serve as a powerful symbol of hope and collaboration as many parts of the world emerge from lockdown. Instead of seeing advertisements, residents of these cities can engage with Hockney’s meditation on the arrival of spring while they're (safely) out and about. 

“We have to take time to see [the world's] beauty," Hockney said in a press release. "That's what I hope my work will encourage people to do when they see it on the large screens.”

DAVID HOCKNEY STILL
Image: DAVID HOCKNEY

The global event coincides with the release of Hockney’s new book Spring Cannot Be Cancelled and his Royal Academy exhibition The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020, which opens in London on May 23. 

Ready to see the exhibit for yourself? The work will light up skies starting on London’s Piccadilly Lights screen on May 1 at 20:21 BST and will be shown every evening of the month. Concurrent screenings will happen in Times Square in New York City at 23:57 EST; Pendry West Hollywood in Los Angeles at 20:21 PST; Coex K-POP Square in Seoul at 20:21 KST; and Yunika Vision, Shinjuku in Tokyo at 09:00 JST. The video will also be available online via the circa.art every evening, at 20:21 BST. 

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