Hockney: smoking remains an act of defiance

Always grateful to David Hockney for his spirited defence of smoking.

Few articles about the great man fail to mention the subject because it is so much part of his identity and yesterday’s interview in the Sunday Times Magazine was no exception.

The full interview is behind a paywall but you can read his comments about smoking here - Don't tell me not to smoke! Artist David Hockney, 82, reveals he sees his 60-year habit as an 'act of defiance'.

Over the years Hockney has attended several Forest events. The first was a private dinner in 2004 which he later described as “life-affirming”.

The following year he accepted an invitation to speak at a fringe meeting organised by Forest at the Labour conference in Brighton when we were campaigning against the proposed smoking ban.

There are several reports of that day online (Hockney was interviewed by the Guardian, The Times, Sunday Times and Telegraph, plus Andrew Neil for the BBC) but this piece in the Independent (Hockney blows smoke on Labour's plan to ban tobacco) always makes me laugh. (You have to read to the end.)

In 2008 he attended a Forest event at Boisdale of Belgravia to mark the first anniversary of the smoking ban in England, and in 2011 he joined us at the House of Commons where we were promoting the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign.

He is pictured above on the terrace of the HoC talking to Sir Greg Knight MP who co-hosted the event.

See also ‘Looking for David Hockney’ (below).

David Hockney: Drawing from Life, National Portrait Gallery, London WC2, February 27-June 28