I told a classic tale today.  It was framed around the Edward Hopper painting “Nighthawks”…the one in Chicago that still makes me nervous.

I caught our art teacher extraordinaire, David Shiner, heading out after school today.  He seemed genuinely interested when I told him I visited my old friend “Nighthawks” at the Art Institute in Chicago a couple weekends ago.  He was even more interested as I told him my near and dear association with the painting.  He agreed that a Hopper can “do that to you.”

What Nighthawks did for me was keep me out of trouble.  When I was in that 11th grade English class Hades that I was subject to, I was able to turn back to the period art in the back of the book and get lost in the microscopic rendition of the painting that was a scant few inches on a page in the book.  I got lost nonetheless.  It was pure mystery and well, fate, I suppose.

I enjoy art.  I do.  I want to know more about it.  I know that on a trip to The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis I saw some stuff that I could have taken a hammer to just to give the “modern art” an even more modern feel.  That is just me.  I enjoyed some of it.  I loved the “Spoon” in the courtyard.  The one with a big cherry on it.  You could look it up.

I suppose the best art I saw in Minneapolis that weekend in 2009 was the sculpture of Mary Tyler Moore that was on the street to commemorate the show in her name that was set in Minneapolis.  That and the play action fake bomb that Brett Favre threw to Sidney Rice after winding up as he rolled out to the right before he heaved the pass.  That was truly art.

Sorry Brett.  You have nothing on Edward Hopper.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson