Protocol Document

NEC Displays Bring

David Hockney’s Digital Art to Life

www.necdisplay.com

Case Study

Famed British artist David Hockney has embraced new technologies

throughout his career—everything from Polaroid cameras to fax

machines—shifting between media as his own style evolves.

From Oct. 2013 to Jan. 2014, the de Young Museum in San Francisco

exhibited an expansive collection of Hockney’s work, “David Hockney:

A Bigger Exhibition,” with a focus on his recent video art and drawings

composed on iPads.

Several massive NEC Display video walls featuring the technology-

enabled work serve as a dramatic centerpiece amid conventional

paintings and drawings.

“All told, this array forms an in-depth portrait of the artist as a tradition-

fluent progressive working nonstop at the height of his powers, deftly

juggling digital and analog modes of representation and energetically

pursuing newness on several fronts,” according to the New York Times

review of the show.

Because the video walls were part of an art installation, color accuracy

and image sharpness were critical. The scale of the images required

multiple panels, so it was important that the bezels were thin enough to

produce a uniform image.

Quick Facts

Facility

• de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Location

• San Francisco, CA

Challenges

• Displaying vibrant, large-scale video and digital art installations

Solution

• 55” NEC X551UN

Date

• October 2013

The Challenge

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Case Study NEC Displays Bring David Hockney’s Digital Art to Life Famed British artist David Hockney has embraced new technologies throughout his career—everything from Polaroid cameras to fax machines—shifting between media as his own style evolves. From Oct. 2013 to Jan. 2014, the de Young Museum in San Francisco exhibited an expansive collection of Hockney’s work, “David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition,” with a focus on his recent video art and drawings composed on iPads.
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Case Study The screens needed to display images vibrantly no matter the lighting conditions because the exhibit extended through several galleries, some of which also showcased paintings. One gallery had a skylight, while another was dark and enclosed on two sides, more along the lines of a miniature theater. The displays also needed to be durable enough to run all day, every day while museum guests wandered through the show.