Arriving to add a final flourish to his acclaimed six-decade career, British painter and photographer David Hockney was thinking big until the end. Having passed away in June at age 88, he left behind highly influential art that will live on forever, and now audiences can see his work from a whole new perspective. That's because David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) takes over Carriageworks' Bay 17 this October, offering perhaps the most immersive exhibition of his work to date. First conceived for London's Lightroom exhibition space, and designed in close collaboration with Hockney, the exhibition, which debuted in 2023, has since welcomed over 650,000 visitors across instalments in Manchester, Shanghai and Seoul. Now, this large-scale production is coming to Sydney, melding painting, photography, drawing and digital media into a multisensory experience that unfolds across image, sound and space. "Little did we know that, just a few months before we finally realised this glorious project in Sydney, David Hockney would leave us. Hockney's work sits in our imagination in ways that feel deeply familiar to Sydneysiders: deep blue waters, bright green foliage and shimmering bodies," says Carriageworks CEO Fergus Linehan. Shaped into six themed chapters, each featuring an original score by renowned American contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly, the exhibition guides visitors with Hockney's own narration as he reveals his creative process and offers a fascinating perspective on his early experiments. That includes using photography as a way of 'drawing with a camera', capturing the passage of time in photographic collages, and imagining the joy of spring on his iPad. Among these enveloping pieces, Hockney shows the audience why only paint can properly convey the hugeness of the Grand Canyon, then he leads an audiovisual journey along Wagner Drive in the San Gabriel Mountains — a series of oil paintings that he later translated into a precisely choreographed car trip synchronised to music by Richard Wagner. While you won't be physically transported to Southern California, this might be the next best thing. "To work directly with David Hockney for a number of years to create Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away) was a huge privilege, and to be able to share it with a new audience in Australia is thrilling for us," says Richard Slaney, CEO of Lightroom and producer of Bigger & Closer. "The show is driven by David's philosophy — to take things in; to look closely; to know what it is you're looking at; to really look." David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) runs from Thursday, October 22, at Carriageworks' Bay 17, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh. Head to the website for more information. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox. Images: Supplied.