The only city

Author's name: Olivia Laing

There are many things art cannot do. Art cannot bring the dead back to life, it cannot resolve conflicts between friends, or it cannot solve the problem of global warming. Yet, art does have some extraordinary functions, a strange ability to negotiate between people, especially those who have never met before, and who can enrich and complement each other's lives. It also has the power to create intimacy; it has a unique way of healing wounds, and better still, it can show us that not all wounds need healing and not all scars are ugly.

Olivia Laing, a woman who moved to New York City because she was in love, suddenly and without warning, after leaving her London home, found her lover had changed his mind and no longer wanted to live with her in New York. In the absence of love, she found herself clinging desperately to the city itself: she decided to stay in New York alone to begin a long journey of healing. On this journey, Olivia encountered the works of four of the most important artists of the 20th century, who explored the theme of loneliness intensely in their art: Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Henry Darger, and David Wojnarovich. They were not all permanent residents of the lonely city, but they understood a great deal about the distances between people and what it means to feel alone even amidst crowds.