Franco-American Mail 1976 - 1977

David Hockney’s "Franco-American Mail" is a print criss-crossed by red and blue lines, dividing the sheet into twelve frames, each presenting a mini-scene or a quirky still life. I can almost see him, the artist, bouncing between these little worlds, giving each one a different mood. Look at the face in the bottom left, it’s so minimal, yet it stares right through you. Then there's the guitar, all curves and lightness, floating next to what looks like a snippet of musical score. It's like Hockney's mind at play, hopping from one thought to another, each contained but still connected. And aren’t we all just doing that, piecing together fragments, trying to make sense of the world in our own stitched-together way? It makes me think about how we communicate with each other as artists, borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas across time. Painting is about expression but it's also about creating dialogue.