London's Serpentine North has released details about its forthcoming free David Hockney exhibition in March, the artist's first at the gallery, which will include a new suite of paintings made for the Serpentine alongside Hockney’s monumental digital frieze A Year in Normandie (2020–2021), shown in London for the first time.

The newly unveiled work comprises five still lifes alongside five portraits that depict members of the artist’s close circle, including his family and carers. Hockney, who is 88, has struggled with health issues since suffering a stroke in late 2012. The paintings share unifying elements: all have a frontal composition and the recurring motif of a gingham tablecloth. Hockney has also created a large-scale printed mural, which will be displayed in the garden at Serpentine North. The work highlights a scene from A Year in Normandie’s spring cycle depicting a tree house. 

“I have always believed that art should be a deep pleasure...There is always, everywhere, an enormous amount of suffering, but I believe that my duty as an artist is to overcome and alleviate the sterility of despair...," Hockney says. "New ways of seeing mean new ways of feeling... I do believe that painting can change the world.”

David Hockney: A Year in Normandie, Serpentine North Gallery, 12th March to 23rd August. The exhibition is free. Tickets for March to May are available now. Tickets for June to August will be released at a later date.