David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) is an immersive audiovisual exhibition, developed with Hockney, opening at Carriageworks in Sydney on October 22 in Bay 17.

This multi-city production has drawn over 650,000 visitors across London, Manchester, Shanghai and Seoul, making Sydney its Australian debut.

The presentation is led by Carriageworks in collaboration with Andrew Kay and Associates, signaling its status as a flagship cultural event for the season.

The show uses Hockney’s voice to guide viewers as their surroundings display his works, creating a seamless fusion of art and sound.

The Sydney run runs from October 22 to January, lasting about 55 minutes and is accessible to visitors at any time.

An opera-themed chapter features a score by Nic Muni, underscoring the piece’s multidisciplinary nature.

Highlights include photography-as-drawing, time-capturing photo collages, and the evolution of California scenes into synchronized oil paintings and musical travel sequences.

Carriageworks CEO Fergus Linehan describes the show as blurring visual art, theatre and cinema for a visceral audience experience.

Linehan notes familiar Sydney imagery—blue waters and green foliage—help anchor the immersive, multi-sensory journey.

The exhibition is structured into chapters focused on themes like music and lines, spanning different periods of Hockney’s career, including his Los Angeles years.

Producer Richard Slaney explains Lightroom’s installation isn’t a strict biographical piece but a legacy work exploring how to view the world through Hockney’s ideas of scale, light and perspective.