IF EDWARD HOPPER HAD PAINTED TODAY

photo by elizabeth gordon

photo by elizabeth gordon

If Edward Hopper lived today and painted, what would his paintings have looked like?  We know he painted about how people feeling alone and isolated in urban environments.  How would he view the loneliness that comes with technology and our relationship to what we ironically call social media? Hoppers' paintings were stark and empty, re-enforcing a sense of separation and isolation.  I remember seeing an exhibition of Hopper's work at the Tate Museum in London and coming away completely depressed.  I love his work and how he expressed a sense of what our society brings in some of its most negative aspects.  
I was standing on the metro (underground in Washington D.C.) with friends waiting on the next train when I looked up and saw this lone figure against a plain background. The contrast was wonderful and the eerie light underground only highlighted the feeling of abjectness.  

Detail from NightHawks by Edward Hopper  google

NightHawks by Edward Hopper                          google image