In late 1986, with Bradford doing less well than it might, an advertising campaign was devised. It went by the slogan “Bradford’s Bouncing Back”. This was the first time David Hockney had created a piece of art specifically about Bradford and it was at the very beginning of his experimentation with new technology.
The campaign really didn’t help Bradford that much. There was a short promotional video fronted by the Bradford born actor Leslie Sands who had been popular in British films during the 60s and 70s. He did a real pro’ job but wasn’t going to inspire the rest of the country, let alone the world that Bradford was bouncing anywhere.
The image he created, named ‘A Bounce for Bradford’, was made using an office colour copier to reproduce some original drawings.
The Image appeared as a double page spread in Bradford’s local newspaper, ‘The Telegraph & Argus’, on 3 March 1987.
These newsprint images occasionally appear and in galleries and at auctions with asking price around $500 US dollars.
It’s probably significant the David Hockney’s ‘A Bounce for Bradford’, amazing though it was, was consigned to newsprint was very likely to be keeping the fish and chips warm before closing time on 4 March 1987.