Immersive Exhibition Celebrates David Hockney’s Opera Set Designs
Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall will be transformed into an immersive opera house, hosting an exhibition showcasing the sets designed by David Hockney for productions of works by Mozart, Wagner, and Stravinsky dating back to the 1970s.
The exhibition will serve as the centrepiece of Tate’s celebration of Hockney’s 90th birthday in 2027. Although Hockney is better known for his paintings and prints, he also worked extensively on opera set designs, beginning during his time in London before relocating to Los Angeles.
Hockney’s initial foray into set design was at the Royal Court Theatre for a production of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi. He subsequently designed sets for other operas, including Richard Strauss’s fantasy opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), which embraced a pop-art aesthetic.
Over a span of 17 years starting in 1975, Hockney produced a total of 11 opera sets. When asked about his motivation for working on set designs, he responded in a characteristically straightforward manner:
“I wanted to design operas because I want to have something to look at.”
Additional Tate 2027 Programme Highlights
Alongside the Hockney exhibition, Tate’s 2027 programme includes a retrospective of Sonia Boyce, who won the Golden Lion for Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2022, and an Edvard Munch exhibition. Tate Liverpool will reopen with a career-spanning show by Chila Kumari Singh Burman, a contemporary of Boyce’s who created a notable installation outside Tate Britain in 2020.
Another significant exhibition is the first-ever Monet show at Tate, titled Painting Time, which focuses on the artist’s “obsession with capturing the instant,” according to curator Catherine Wood. The exhibition traces the lead-up to Monet’s renowned Water Lilies cycle, which spanned 30 years from the 1890s—when Monet was suffering from cataracts but continued painting in his Normandy garden—until his death in 1926 at age 86.
Wood remarked on Monet’s dedication:
“What comes across is how embodied and how immersed he was in cultivating the garden and then capturing it. Even as he’s going blind, he’s still trying to paint.”
Created in collaboration with the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris and featuring loans from individual and institutional collections, the show offers a fitting revisit to Monet’s work. Notably, Monet’s paintings were previously paired with a Richard Long piece when Tate Modern opened.
Other Notable Exhibitions Across Tate Venues
Additional highlights include a 120-work Gainsborough exhibition marking the 300th anniversary of the artist’s birth, and the first major presentation of Tudor art in 30 years. At Tate Modern, landmark shows will feature Baya, the Algerian female artist who influenced Picasso; India’s Nalini Malani; and US sculptor Lynda Benglis, known for her use of latex and Day-Glo pigment.
Leadership Transition at Tate
The announcement of the forthcoming season coincides with the departure of Maria Balshaw, who has led Tate for nine years during a period of transition. Karin Hindsbo will assume leadership responsibilities while the search for a permanent director continues. The new director is expected to be announced in summer 2026, with the appointment requiring approval by the prime minister.
Hindsbo commented on the upcoming programme:
“This is an exhibition programme that only Tate could deliver. It spans the centuries, from the 1500s to the present day, and it spans the globe, from Europe to Asia, Africa and America.
Even more importantly, the programme reflects a deep appreciation of artists themselves. All these exhibitions showcase the many different ways that artists think and work, and their unique ability to inspire and move us.”
