Howard Hodgkin is widely regarded as one of the most significant painters - and certainly the greatest colourist - at work in Britain today. His method of painting means that he takes several years to complete a work, and as a result, his exhibitions are eagerly awaited. Hodgkin's paintings are primarily grounded in a remembered experience - a meeting with friends, a view across a landscape, the moment after a meal. From this starting point Hodgkin embarks on his painting and, working over a long period, produces layered, richly-coloured, sweeping compositions, which extend into the picture frame. The finished paintings hover brilliantly between representation and abstraction and have been described as profound painterly equivalents for memory itself. This text accompanies a major exhibition at the Dean Gallery, Edinburgh.