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Dimensions: measurements 81.5 by 88cm. alternate measurements 32 by 34 5/8 in.

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Notes: Executed in 2008.
Howard Hodgkin, who is the ICA's Vice President, first showed at the
organisation as part of the exhibition Pop Painting, 1960, and then
again in the two-person show Two Young Figurative Painters, 1962,
alongside Allen Jones.

For the ICA auction Hodgkin has generously created a new painting,
entitled Ekow, 2008. The work is an abstract portrait of the ICA's
Artistic Director Ekow Eshun, who visited Hodgkin's studio to sit for
the work. The painting features a painted frame, and displays
Hodgkin's signature visual language of distinct marks and intense
colours, which the artist uses to represent personal encounters.

For a long time in Britain the ICA celebrated contemporary culture almost single-handedly. That wasn't easy. It has always meant much to me. It has twice had a major impact on my life. In 1962
the graphic artist and critic Roger Coleman invited me to show at the ICA in Two Young Figurative Painters. I was thirty but still unknown - it was my first London show. The other artist, Allen Jones, was
then very fashionable. Two years later, Richard Hamilton invited me to contribute to a portfolio of works on paper to benefit
the ICA. The commission prompted me to make one of my best prints, the silkscreen Enter Laughing. (Howard Hodgkin, 2008)