Hollow City
Jackson Arn | The Baffler | 2nd November 2022
The Whitney’s Hopper exhibition is different, it claims, because it highlights his focus on New York. Hopper’s paintings, though, are not exactly strong evidence. Where are the New York crowds, or New York’s looming skyscrapers? Are we back to Hopper’s theme of “quiet desperation”? Perhaps not – his New Yorkers don’t seem miserable but instead, seem to just “sit and wait”. If Hopper’s pictures have a mood of despair, they also carry a “twinge of hope”. In this particular city, things can change.