David Hockney.

KUNST- UND AUSSTELLUNGSHALLE DER BRD 

Taken singly, some of David Hockney's best-known paintings are physically unrewarding, but their imagery remains as plangent as a golden oldie. This Northerner's take on Frenchified taste (he is the Paul Helleu of '70s Euro-chic cafe society) and California lifestyle mixes shrewd-eyed innocence with mischievous sophistication. Some of the visual experiments of recent years have been blind alleys, and the straightforward paintings of "things we have loved"--dogs, Mum, flowers, etc.--are at best charmingly banal. But if the curators of this 100-piece overview land the right works, we could be surprised by the consistency of Hockney's visual acrobatics. June 1-Sept. 23; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark, Oct. 12, 2001-Jan. 29, 2002.