Edward Hopper, foremost chronicler of lonely American souls, would have found pathos in our modern world of FOMO. This clever series from Ukrainian artist Nastya Ptichek updates Hopper’s work for a social media era, and the overlay of electronic icons makes his paintings even more depressing.
If social media lets us express the things we’re too timid to say IRL, Ptichek translates the unspoken thoughts of these Hopper characters into emoji, retweets, and friend requests. It’s an incisive look at loneliness across the 20th and 21st centuries.
These Hopper paintings are part of a series called “Emoji Nation,” which Ptichek began by translating Degas into emoji and moved on to Windows XP error messages in Renaissance paintings. You can check out all of her work, and, if you’re so inspired, show us your own message of loneliness encoded in a famous painting. [Nastya Ptichek via AdWeek]
