Artists and cultural figures have reflected on the career and influence of David Hockney following the death of the British painter at the age of 88, describing an artist whose work shaped perceptions of modern life, technology and visual expression.

The responses highlighted the breadth of Hockney’s career, from his celebrated depictions of swimming pools and landscapes to his experiments with drawing, digital tools and new ways of representing space. Several artists said his approach influenced generations by presenting art as an open process of observation and exploration.

Artist Rachel Whiteread recalled first encountering Hockney’s work as a child, alongside other major modern artists. She said a television programme about him in the 1970s shaped her early understanding of what an artist could be.

“I remember seeing a TV programme about David in the 1970s as a young kid and thinking ‘wow, is that what being an artist is like?’” she said.Whiteread said Hockney appeared different from many artists of his generation because of his public presence and his willingness to embrace visibility.

She described him as someone who made the life of an artist appear accessible and energetic.“He was charismatic and fashionable and very out and proud,” she said, adding that he made being an artist look enjoyable and engaging.She also pointed to Hockney’s paintings of swimming pools in Los Angeles as among the works that had a particular impact on her.

She said she often thinks about his treatment of water when she swims, noting the complexity of his handling of light, depth and movement.“I actually think about him every time I go swimming,” she said. “It always astounds me how he painted water, and figures within water.”The pool paintings, created during his periods in California, represented a major phase of Hockney’s career.

Whiteread described them as distinct from the atmosphere of London and praised the way they captured layered surfaces and changing environments.She also highlighted his drawings, particularly his use of line and composition, saying they demonstrated his technical ability and his continuing commitment to visual experimentation.“He just never stopped painting,” Whiteread said.

“It was like he was breathing art.”Artist Jeremy Deller said Hockney’s influence extended beyond traditional painting and included his engagement with technology and public projects. Deller described him as a role model who remained active and curious throughout his career.“He humanised technology in a way that few have managed,” Deller said.

He recalled working with Hockney on a banner titled “The Unrepentant Smokers” for a procession in Manchester in 2009. Deller said the reaction from an anti-smoking councillor, who objected to the work, amused Hockney.Deller also referred to Hockney’s later immersive exhibition work, saying it demonstrated the artist’s continued interest in combining visual art with new forms of presentation.

Artist Tacita Dean pointed to Hockney’s influence on approaches to drawing and spatial representation. She said his work challenged traditional ideas of how images create a sense of place.Dean described Hockney’s immersive drawings as a significant contribution to contemporary art, saying they showed how lines could move beyond simply describing objects and instead create a sense of space.

“He created these immersive drawings that you could almost step into,” she said.She added that Hockney’s importance would take time to fully assess, but said his willingness to keep experimenting remained one of the defining aspects of his career.The director of Turner Contemporary, Clarrie Wallis, said Hockney’s work had played a major role in shaping public understanding of visual culture.

She said few artists had contributed as significantly to changing how people perceive the world around them.Hockney’s career was marked by a constant interest in new ways of seeing, whether through traditional painting, photography, digital technology or large-scale installations. His work often examined ordinary subjects, including landscapes, interiors and everyday objects, while exploring how images are constructed and interpreted.

The reflections from fellow artists focused on this continuing search for new perspectives. They described an artist who remained engaged with changing technologies and artistic methods while maintaining a strong connection to observation and drawing.For many who worked alongside or followed his career, Hockney’s influence was not limited to specific works or periods but was connected to his broader approach to making art.

His legacy, they said, lies in the way he expanded ideas about what painting could include and how audiences could experience images.

The mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” covered about 17,000 square feet and had been displayed on the building since 1999. Workers began painting over it last month, prompting public backlash and an online petition seeking protection for the artwork.

Filed in federal court in Dallas, the lawsuit claims the mural was destroyed without the artist’s consent or prior notice, violating the U.S. Visual Artists Rights Act, which protects works of recognized stature from destruction.

Wyland argues that organizers “irreversibly destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the 2026 FIFA World Cup. FIFA denied involvement, with a spokesperson saying the organization had “no involvement in this whatsoever.”

Local World Cup organizers have said new artwork is planned to reflect the tournament’s significance, while preserving part of the original mural. Dallas is scheduled to host nine World Cup matches, the most of any host city in the United States.

London — Street artist Banksy has confirmed that a newly installed sculpture in central London, depicting a man marching forward with his face entirely covered by a large flag, is his latest work, marking another rare public intervention by the elusive artist in the British capital.

The statue appeared overnight in Waterloo Place, Westminster, an area lined with official monuments and historic memorials near St James’s and close to government buildings and ceremonial landmarks. The work was first noticed on Wednesday, with Banksy’s signature scrawled at the base of the plinth, prompting immediate speculation over its authenticity.

Banksy confirmed authorship on Thursday through a post on Instagram, where he shared a video showing the sculpture being transported through London late at night before being installed at the site. The footage included images of nearby national symbols and landmarks, including the statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, British flags, a Beefeater guard and a traditional black cab, suggesting a deliberate visual dialogue between the new work and established representations of British identity and state symbolism.

The sculpture itself shows a male figure stepping forward from a plinth while holding a large billowing flag that covers his entire face. The concealment of the subject’s identity appears central to the composition, contrasting with the traditional commemorative statues surrounding it, many of which celebrate named military, royal and political figures.In the video posted by Banksy, a passerby is asked for his opinion of the statue and replies, “No, I don’t like it,” a brief exchange that adds to the artist’s longstanding use of public reaction as part of the presentation of his work.

The statue has been placed in Waterloo Place, near monuments to Edward VII, Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War Memorial, an area known for its formal statuary and ceremonial significance. Its location places it within one of London’s most symbolically charged public spaces, where imperial memory and national commemoration dominate the landscape.

Banksy, whose identity remains officially unconfirmed, is best known internationally for politically charged graffiti works that appear without warning in public spaces and often address war, migration, inequality, surveillance and state power. While murals and stencil works remain his most recognisable form, he has previously installed sculptural works in London.One of his best-known earlier sculptures, “The Drinker,” was installed on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West End in 2004.

The work was a satirical reinterpretation of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker,” showing the figure slumped with a traffic cone placed on its head. It was removed shortly after installation. In 2019, Sotheby’s withdrew the sculpture from auction following concerns over its ownership and removal history.Banksy’s most recent confirmed London work before the Waterloo Place statue was a mural unveiled in December showing two children lying on their backs and looking upward.

The mural appeared near Centre Point Tower and was widely interpreted as referencing homelessness, with the tower long associated with Britain’s housing inequality and homelessness debates. The children in the mural appeared to be pointing toward the building, linking the artwork to wider concerns over urban displacement and housing insecurity.

Another work appeared in September outside the Royal Courts of Justice, where Banksy created a mural showing a judge using a gavel to strike a protester lying defenseless on the ground. The image emerged during a period of heightened arrests linked to demonstrations involving signs associated with the proscribed activist group Palestine Action. The mural was later removed.

Court authorities said they were legally required to preserve the listed character of the building and could not retain the artwork permanently.The new Westminster sculpture arrives as public interest in Banksy’s identity has again intensified following a recent Reuters investigation that reported the artist was likely Robin Gunningham, a Bristol-born figure who has long been suspected of being Banksy.

Reuters said its findings aligned with a similar investigation first published by the Mail on Sunday in 2008.Gunningham has denied being Banksy. According to Reuters, Banksy’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, said the artist “does not accept that many of the details contained within your inquiry are correct” and stressed that anonymity remained essential because Banksy had been “subjected to fixated, threatening and inappropriate behaviour.”The preservation of anonymity has long been central to both the artist’s legal protection and public mythology.

Banksy’s work frequently appears without official permission and often challenges institutions of power, making anonymity both a practical necessity and a core part of the artistic identity itself.The new sculpture’s use of a face hidden behind a national flag may also reinforce that theme, placing concealment, identity and public symbolism at the centre of the work.

Unlike conventional monuments that celebrate recognisable individuals, the Waterloo Place installation removes personal identity altogether, replacing portraiture with obscurity.Its proximity to Churchill’s statue is particularly notable. Churchill remains one of Britain’s most politically contested historical figures, and monuments associated with imperial history and nationalism have been the subject of repeated public debate in recent years.

By placing a faceless flag-bearer within this landscape, the work appears to invite reflection on patriotism, public memory and the politics of visibility.No official statement has been issued by Westminster authorities regarding the installation or whether it will remain permanently in place. As with many Banksy works, questions over ownership, preservation and removal are likely to follow.

Public artworks by Banksy often trigger disputes between local councils, private property owners and cultural institutions over conservation and commercial value. Several murals have been removed for protection or sale, while others have been destroyed or painted over.

For now, the Waterloo Place statue remains in place, attracting visitors and photographers in one of London’s busiest ceremonial districts. Its sudden appearance, followed by Banksy’s confirmation, has once again turned a section of the capital into an open-air site of interpretation, where the meaning of the work is shaped as much by public debate as by the sculpture itself.