Hockney

I like David Hockney. He's no nonsense, down-to-earth. The BBC had a great doc about him last night and for 48 hours they've made available some "phone art" to download.

Out of all the British Pop Artists (of which he was one, more by default than anything else) he was the most "Pop". Not in the Peter Blake sense (Beatles album cover etc) but in his attitude. He loved the newness and freedom of 1960s America. His Splash paintings could've been done today. He's wry and dry like Alan Bennett - a Northern thing - but not parochial.

In Peter Whitehead's 1960s film, "Tonite Let's All Make Love in London", Hockney sits with a pair of glasses on that spell the word "Zoom" while discussing art and life. His portrait of Ossie Clark is the nation's favourite (official). He regularly appears on radio slagging the anti-smoking laws by "mealy-mouthed do-gooders". He's not afraid of technology and just having a go at things. He's a bundle of fun. And honesty. Qualities sorely lacking in our public figures. Wacko Jacko? Pah. Hockney's a true artist.