Stranger on the plattform 2020

Nick Alm made this painting, "Stranger on the Platform," and it feels like a memory, all muted and soft. The way he builds up the image feels so process-oriented, like he's thinking through paint. Look at the surface, how the colors seem to blend into each other. The blues and grays create an atmosphere that’s heavy, almost melancholic. The paint looks pretty thin, like washes layered one on top of another, and this adds to the dreamlike quality. I am drawn to the way that the figures are positioned, cut off from the frame, but how the artist has captured the texture of their clothes and the way the light hits them feels very real. Alm's painting reminds me a bit of Edward Hopper, but with a contemporary twist. Both artists capture a certain kind of loneliness and alienation, but where Hopper is stark and clear, Alm is blurry and indistinct. Art is this ongoing conversation, a back-and-forth across time and space, isn't it? And ambiguity? That's where the real juice is.