MoMA Mixtape: Edward Hopper Feels Like Home

Joan Miró’s Barcelona XIII + Temptation’s “Michelle Gurevich”

I love finding silly little figures in museums. These appear to be having a communion—wiggling and starry-eyed. I see and drink up the casual indulgence. I discovered Michelle Gurevich after watching a docuseries about a cult on Netflix. This lyrical post-religion anthem seems only fitting. Why resist temptation?

René Magritte’s The Portrait + Michael Giacchino’s “Ratatouille Main Theme”

I adore The Portrait. There is something to be said about a simple meal. Though unlikely to pass muster for France’s smallest chef, I couldn’t help but pair these together as I would a summer afternoon and a bottle of La Vieille Ferme. This work resonates in many different parts of the body—the disordered food relationship, the surveillance of consumption (I am a content creator after all), and, despite it all, the simple joy of eating. Bon appétit!

Edward Hopper’s Gas + Manchester Orchestra and Phoebe Bridgers’s “The Gold”

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I was forged in nostalgic lights at gas stations and among the evergreens of the island I called home. Vashon is a beautiful place. I had a secret boyfriend when I was 17—a guy my friends hated. I would see him on misty nights and ignore him in the gray of day. I wanted to be seen by someone who didn’t have any idea who I was. I wanted to be someone new and unseen by the eyes that had always been watching me. It’s hard to change in a small town. Phoebe Bridgers has always captured the heartbreak of waning youth beautifully.

Yves Klein’s Blue Monochrome + Frank Ocean’s “Facebook Story”

While the title “Facebook Story” seems a fitting complement to this monochromatic work, my pairing is less about the color and more about the narrative. What story do you see? Does it change when someone else is looking? Does it mean anything at all?

Pierre Soulages’s Painting + WILLOW’s “T r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” (ft. Travis Barker)

“T r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” is a full-body expression of angst. Thrashing guitar, thrashing drums, thrashing brushstrokes. Frustration, anger, and resultant action. That’s what I see in Pierre Soulages’s Painting. Wie kann man gewalttätige Gefühle äußern?*

*How can one express violent/powerful feelings?

Jenny Holzer and Lady Pink’s Trust visions that don’t feature buckets of blood + Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (feat. Jay-Z)

Trust requires confidence in our collective future. I don’t believe in dismal visions, because I don’t believe people are bad. But we learn to fear our neighbors—while doomscrolling, policing, controlling—for fear that something might happen. Every day these fears become more and more warranted. Kids are shot, people’s needs are criminalized, and voices are raised and ignored. It’s much harder to trust visions that don’t feature buckets of blood when we are collectively exhausted and alone in homes that we nurture into our sole safe spaces. I don’t know what our future looks like, but what I do know is that a better future begins with trust. I will hold you in good faith because I know who the enemy is, and it’s not a stranger on the Internet. “Now that it’s raining more than ever / know that we’ll still have each other / you can stand under my umbrella.” We need a little help from each other.