Flash: How a Starbucks triptych-like mural upends The Hopper view of the universe

This blog follows an earlier blog on two Edward Hopper works of art hanging in the Yale Gallery of Art. Click here to read the earlier blog first.

Enter a Starbucks today, any Starbucks and you are hit smack in the face by the pleasant aroma of Pike, Sumatra, Christmas blends, etc.

And so often, the lines are ten to 15 people in front of you. In other words, you come square smack into the middle of humanity.

There are often masses of people, so once you pick up your order, there is no seating left.

In other words, the cafe is where people have congregated and continue to do so to share ideas over java.

But little noticed until recently is a sepia toned triptych mural that dominates the once bare walls of some of the coffee bars.

Now, when you look up you see familiar, family, street scenes with the characters connecting to each other and their surroundings. These images that follow are composites  from the Starbucks at the Ridgeway Center, Stamford and the 37th Avenue Starbucks in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Here are some:

In this first image,  the Starbucks, has actual live customers standing in a cue waiting each his turn to place an order. A biker passes in front of the cafe on her way home or to work. People here have a purpose, they are trekking, gliding along the path of life. 

A solitary guitarist, perhaps a troubadour,  stands in front of the store, but he is not truly alone as he serenades the customers as they enter and leave. The air is alive with the sound of music. 

In this second image, we find a flower shop to the left. It is en plein air and the visible and tangible and aromatic bouquets are beckoning customers to walk right in and do some impulse purchasing; indeed, there is commerce going on her.

But, there are theatrics, along with music very possibly being performed here.Why do I say that? Notice that drawn curtain seen through the left side of Starbucks exactly where the biker's head is located.

Where does the curtain lead to?  An area obstructed by the flora in which could be seated musicians and the standing man in the background, who I presume is owner, is doubling as an actor. 

 Besides the biker, there is a guy and his gal friend on the sidewalk surveying the flowers. In the background, there is also another fellow at the extreme left with a newspaper tucked under his arm. Perhaps he is waiting at a bus stop while catching the entertainment.

 There is also a subtle triangulation here at Starbucks that,  unlike the dissonance evoked by figures of the woman, the artist and the denim jacket  in  Hopper's Western Motel, underscores harmony and connectivity. 

   

 Here's how it works:   if you draw a line from the biker to the couple and stage performer and then another line back to the man in the street with newspaper under his  arm and continue the line from him to the biker you have created a near isosceles triangle of humans--all simpatico, all an intricate resonant part of the fabric of humanity. 

I would call this phenomenon complementary triangulation,  as opposed to the uneasy, disquieting dissonant triangulation discussed  in the earlier  blog on Western Motel. 

To the right of the Starbucks is  a produce market en plein air, enticing impulsive customer viewing--as much or even more so than the stores of its  two neighbors.

  We see a dog standing in front-- which while leashed to its master who has stopped to peruse the 'wares' --gazing, toward the street, transfixed by the approaching biker-a beautiful bidirectional connection of animal to two humans simultaneously.

   The fruits and vegetables are alive with their radiant display of various shades of  reds, yellows, oranges and greens-- thanks to the intensity of the conical beams of light lavishly spread out on the scene.

How does each artist, Hopper in the case of Western Motel (shown below) and the Starbuck artist of this triptych- mural use lighting to effect his/her message?

 Hopper uses his lighting to underscore his view that people are separated, i.e. the woman in   "Sunlight in a Cafeteria" (see previous blog) sits alone swathed in the streaming sunlight of early afternoon and the Motel lady, pictured above, similarly sits bathed alone in the later afternoon western rays.

We have discussed how the Starbucks artist uses flood lights to bring out the rich colors of  the flora and especially the produce which serves to draw people together to shop and frequent the cafe where they share their humanity via music, theater and through the exchange of conversation.

One final amazing detail, which adds a particular poetic license, an acute sensitivity and creativity to the Starbucks installation in Jackson Heights. Do you notice the the two bright lights in the image below?

They are not, I repeat not, part of the painting. They are a part of our sit down cafe. And so the artist and/or the installer has very cleverly magnified the amount of light  by creating an illusion that the lamps are a part of the triptych.

Kudos to the Starbucks artist who has upended  Hopper's awesome and powerful focus on individuals-- depicted very much alone in their universes-- by connecting, people to their places, friends and objects.

But, who is he? (his artwork is not signed and a nearly exhaustive online search is still ongoing).

And, of course kudos to Hopper who-- through attention to details -- has painfully, slowly and laboriously created a universe of fascinating, intriguing and enduring  isolated souls.

It is not fitting to say that Hopper truly stands alone and supreme among 20th Century American artists?