Hot Docs 2008

Waiting for Hockney is a compelling look at the institutional art world through the story of Billy Pappas, a suburban Maryland artist who embarks on a 10-year pursuit to create the most detailed portrait ever drawn and to gain an audience with one of the world's most famous artists, David Hockney. After graduating from art school, Billy had become disillusioned with the scene. While working as a waiter, he meets a man who helps him devise a plan to wow the art world. Billy chooses his subject, his drawing method and sets to work in obsessive and meticulous fashion. His drawing takes almost 10 years to complete. He decides that the best man to judge it is Hockney. Will Hockney like the portrait? Will Billy burst onto the international art scene? Waiting for Hockney is an engrossing and often hilarious film that subverts our expectations of art and artists.
-Shannon Abel