Approaching a City: Hopper’s Visions of Urban Space

Inspired by Edward Hopper’s New York, this program brings together an interdisciplinary group of artists and writers to reflect on the histories and aesthetics of the urban spaces Hopper engaged with in his work, from the intimacies of private apartments to the public fantasies of the street to the flux of the city itself. Moderated by Kim Conaty, Steven and Ann Ames Curator, the conversation features speakers David Hartt, Kirsty Bell, Jane Dickson, and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro. 

This program is funded by the Flack Family in memory of long-time Whitney docent Marianne L. Flack.

Speakers 

David Hartt is an artist who creates work that unpacks the social, cultural, and economic complexities of his various subjects. He explores how historic ideas and ideals persist or transform over time. He lives and works in Philadelphia, where he is an Associate Professor in the department of fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Kirsty Bell is a British-American writer and art critic based in Berlin. Her most recent book is The Undercurrents. 

Jane Dickson is an artist who lives in New York City. Her work was recently presented in the 2022 Whitney Biennial and is held in numerous museum collections. It can also be found at the Times Square 42nd Street subway station, where she completed a series of mosaics of New Year's Eve Revelers in 2008. 

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose books include Names of New York: Discovering the City’s Past, Present, and Future Through its Place-Names and Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas (with Rebecca Solnit). He is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University.