When David Hockney enrolled in London’s Royal College of Art, in 1959, it was a breeding ground for modern artists—among them, Pauline Boty, Frank Bowling, and Peter Blake. In 1962, Hockney was a part of the “New Contemporaries” exhibition, which announced the arrival of British Pop art. The young artist resisted categorization, however. His work was as Expressionist as it was Pop. Later that year, when the school told Hockney he’d be denied graduation if he didn’t complete a still life of a live model, he made Life Painting for a Diploma—in protest. This large exhibition at the Bruce examines Hockney’s very early work, from student days through his formative years in the 1970s. —Elena Clavarino