The Line Between Isolation and Community: Crewdson and Hopper

            Gregory Crewdson was born in Brooklyn in 1962. Edward Hopper was born 80 years previously, also in New York, and died before Crewdson was 5 years old, however, he’s had a lasting influence on Gregory Crewdson’s life. Both artists have an incredible knack for capturing feelings and telling stories, though they may not tell the viewer what the story is. Through isolation, light and contrast they paint pictures (no pun intended) of a life beyond the canvas (or the photograph). Through similar backgrounds, Gregory Crewdson and Edward Hopper echo each other in both themes and similarity of work by using isolationism and the connections made between people.

            Born in New York in 1882, Edward Hopper was a 19^th through 20^th century painter, who focused on the style of impressionism. His work focused also on the tension between people, a conflict between tradition and progress, and the mood evoked by different times of the day. He went to art school, lived in Paris, married, and gained recognition in the middle of his life. What he focused on most in his work was light, which fascinated him, and how light worked with his surroundings.

            Gregory Crewdson has led a remarkably similar life. Born in Brooklyn, he played in a rock band during his rebellious teenager years. Later in his life Crewdson went to school for design and photography at both SUNY Purchase and Yale University and continues to work at Yale as a professor along with taking pictures. He also focuses a lot on the idea of isolation- isolation in a crowd or by oneself. His pictures are much darker, with focuses on surreal imagery. While some artists have a past that explains such dark photography, he does not. He had no struggles, any more than any other struggling artist, or at least none that he’s shared with the world. He talks about dread in his photography, “I think subconsciously we all have a connection to that imagery and a certain kind of dread” (Loh). Many of his pictures are very dark and leave the audience wondering what the picture is about.

            One thing that may have influenced Gregory Crewdson to follow Hopper so closely is their similar backgrounds. Both were born in New York, then went to art school, struggled in their early years and are now famous artists. Having such a paralleled life can draw one to another. They are both trying to find meaning in life through their art. Both focus on somewhat darker scenes, not because of something that happened in their past, but because they are looking for something more, and are looking for that more through their art. Gregory Crewdson said in an article from “The American Reader”,

Well, if my pictures are about anything at all, I think it’s about trying to make a connection in the world. I see them as more optimistic in a certain way. Even though it’s very clear there’s a level of sadness and disconnection, I think that they’re really about trying to make a connection and almost the impossibility of doing so. And I think maybe the figures—that’s a good word—the figures in my pictures are stand-ins for my own need to make a connection. (Loh)

Everyone needs community, and Crewdson’s art is his way of expressing that need. Edward Hopper may have been looking for that in his own life, and through that Crewdson gravitated towards someone in a similar state.

            Both artists focus on specific themes that are incredibly popular, namely, isolation and the connections between people. They have many images with a person, mostly women, sitting alone in a room or outside, but starkly alone. The isolation is felt through the pictures, and it evokes sympathy and pain for the subject because everyone has been at that place in their life. Isolation is such a common thing to feel, even in a group of people, and both artists knew that. What Edward Hopper did and what Gregory Crewdson is doing in his wake is appealing to the masses. When an artist captures such a common feeling so well, it draws the viewer in, and makes them create a narrative of their own, which is really what art is about- seeing it for what it is and finding a story to go along with it.

            Another similar theme is the connection and tension between people, namely men and women. In Hopper’s work and especially in Crewdson’s, the viewer can feel the tension between people. Whether it is the tension in their shoulders or their expression or the way the subjects never look at each other, it almost makes the viewer uncomfortable. It is an incredible thing to capture, and both capture it well. It’s an interesting approach, not to go for a nice, happy connection with people, but instead to almost exclusively picture people like they are angry, sad, or at odds with the world.

            The works themselves are very similar in the ways they are captured. Both artists focus very much on light in their work. Hopper uses side light in many of his paintings. Whether it is coming from a window or a street light or the sun, his pictures are captured in a soft light. Crewdson as well has his subjects lit from the side, though his pictures have much more contrast and harsh lighting and are, as a whole, much darker. In both cases however, the light has the desired effect, it is used to illuminate the subject, and does so quite well. Their palettes are also very similar, especially in nature landscapes. They use muted reds and yellows, as well as light greens and blues. Through that their landscapes are remarkably similar.

            For these two artists, though they were decades apart, they connected on a level reaching beyond simply both being artists. They understood one another, knew where they were coming from, and managed to capture remarkably similar atmospheres and situations. Both focus on light, though in different ways. While Hopper tends toward the softer side, Crewdson is much darker and has much more contrast. Both manage to get their point across however. They look at both isolation and community, and tensions surrounding the two, whether it is one’s relationship with oneself or with others. It is remarkable how two artists seemingly so apart can make the same assumptions about life, but it shows that experiences do not change, and they both saw the world in similar ways.

Works Cited

Crewdson, Gregory. Untitled. Summer, 2007. Luhring Augustine. ARTstor. Web. January 27, 2016.

"Edward Hopper Biography." Edward Hopper Biography. Edwardhopper.net, 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

"Gregory Crewdson (American, Born 1962)." Gregory Crewdson Biography – Gregory Crewdson on Artnet. Artnet, 2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

"Gregory Crewdson - Biography." Gregory Crewdson - Biography. Rogallery, 2014. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

Hopper, Edward. Lighthouse Village, Cape Elizabeth. 1929. Cleveland Museum of Art. ARTstor. Web. January 27, 2016.

Loh, Alyssa, and Alma Vescovi. "Interview with Photographer Gregory Crewdson." The American Reader. The American Reader, 2014. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

Hopper, Edward. Lighthouse Village, Cape Elizabeth. 1929. Cleveland Museum of Art. ARTstor. Web. January 27, 2016.

Crewdson, Gregory. Untitled. Summer, 2007. Luhring Augustine. ARTstor. Web. January 27, 2016.