National Portrait Gallery: Coming Home
Sam Taylor-Johnson, David Beckham ('David'), 2004, at Whipps Cross Hospital. Photography David Parry
In 2019 Vital Arts collaborated with Waltham Forest, the first London Borough of Culture, to bring artworks for the enjoyment by patients and staff at Whipps Cross Hospital.
Vital Arts was delighted to extend its long-established partnership with the National Portrait Gallery by welcoming Sam Taylor-Johnson’s David, from 2004, as part of their flagship programme COMING HOME. In the NPG’s first major loan to a hospital, the film will be on display until 30 June 2020 in the Ultrasound Department.
The 107-minute film is an intimate portrait of the footballer who was born at Whipps Cross and grew up locally. Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in 2004, the film is a single long take, shot by Taylor-Johnson (then Sam Taylor-Wood) while Beckham was in a deep sleep after a training session. With such a close connection to the hospital, we hope that the work will intrigue and engage patients awaiting treatment.
Sam Taylor-Johnson uses photography, film, video installation and sound to explore human relationships and emotions. She started working in photography and film in the 1990s and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Since the late 2000s she has also directed major feature films for cinematic release.
More information about the NPG’s COMING HOME programme can be found here.
More information about the 2019 Walthem Forest Borough of Culture can be found here.
