In 1997 I began to collect art imagery from various newspapers and magazines; exhibition previews, obituaries, auction news, public commissions - anything that had an art image. Included were images of the painter and printmaker Sir Howard Hodgkin (b.1932 - d.2017).

 

The first Hodgkin image that Jex found and kept was Lovers, 1984 - 1992, (found in The Gay Times circa 1997). Whilst collecting these various art images I noticed that The Guardian newspaper would frequently reproduce the work of Hodgkin. If Hodgkin was in an exhibition The Guardian would cover these events. Whenever there was a reference to British Modern Art, Hodgkin was referenced. And, even after Hodgkin's death, his art continued to appear despite articles not being about him (BFI IMAX cinema, London).

 

As the collection of images evolved, the need to collect all art images changed to selective images, and in particular that of Hodgkin images within The Guardian. Each day, I would look through physical newspapers for any Hodgkin, and as the internet and The Guardian's website became more sophisticated, I would use these tools as resources to search if the artist appeared; if this happened, I would purchase the newspaper and add the image to my collection - what he uncovered was a relationship between the artist and newspaper.

 

Displayed chronologically, each page contains a photograph of the ephemera. Beneath are images of the same art work, downloaded from www.howard-hodgkin.com which have been re-scaled to the same size as the original work. After Hodgkin's death in 2017 the number of images reproduced in The Guardian reduced, however The Guardian Just Loves Mr. Hodgkin, will continue in later editions if more images are reproduced.

​