I traveled to Chelsea Saturday afternoon with the intention of visiting only three galleries. As I do with pretty, shiny objects, I kept getting distracted and lured into additional galleries. I was usually pleasantly surprised and pleased with my serendipitous trips - especially when I wandered into Tony Shafrazi's super-chic gallery and super-fantastic exhibition Dennis Hopper Signs of the Times: Photographs, Billboard Paintings & Films. For fans of Hopper's and fellow icons from his generation - Hollywood celebrities (ie: Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Roger Vadim, Tuesday Weld, Bill Cosby, Dean Stockwell), music stars (Phil Spector, Tina and Ike Turner, Brian Jones), and modern art masters (Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein) this show is not to be missed!
The exhibition displays countless, beautiful black and white photographs taken by Hopper throughout the 1960's including subjects as diverse as celebrities; big-name artists; the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama including a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Warhol's Factory; bikers; Mexico; and New York City. The photos of celebrities are terrific and the subjects appear relaxed and natural in front of Hopper's camera, perhaps because the photographer himself is a celebrity. His non-celebrity pictures are wonderful as well and are concise, vivid visual documentations of culturally significant places, people, and events. I never knew the famous photo of the Biker Couple from 1961 (see my pic below) was taken by Hopper.
Along with showing excerpts from Hopper's films, the gallery is also displaying twelve large-scale, never-before-seen "billboard paintings." The huge oil on canvas reproductions of photographs Hopper took of his artist friends are my favorites in this collection. They show the legendary modern artists young, attractive, cool, and in their prime.
I knew the 73-year-old Hopper was an artist, but not being familiar with his work, I never realized how talented an artist he is! I'm so glad I happened upon this exhibit. The exhibition coincides with the release of a large-scale (17.3" x 13"), 546-page tome Dennis Hopper Photographs 1961 - 1967 published by Taschen. The book, 18-years in the making, compiles 400 of Hopper's ten thousand photographs that he took between 1960-1967 (before he directed and starred in Easy Rider) - no small task for Tony Shafrazi who edited the book and wrote its introductory essay. I had trouble myself just editing down the photos I took from the exhibition for this post! Learn more about the exhibit, Dennis Hopper Signs of the Times and the book, Dennis Hopper Photographs 1961 - 1967 at Tonyshafrazigallery.com. See more of Hopper's work at Dennishopperart.com.
Robert Fraser, Tijuana, 1965, 2009, oil on canvas of ultra-cool, British gallerist also known as "Groovy Bob" during the Swinging Sixties, 83" x 120"
Robert Rauschenberg with his tongue stamped "Wedding Souvenir, Claes Oldenburg," 1966, 2009, oil on canvas 81.5" x 120"
Does anyone know if/where you can buy a print of the biker couple?
Posted by: R | 07/07/2010 at 10:32 PM
Ah, Smiths fans will recognize that Biker Couple was used 'in diptych' for the UK version of Best I and II...
Posted by: ___ | 09/22/2009 at 12:32 PM
Never knew that Dennis Hopper was a photographer, but it kind of makes sense. Seeing these few pictures from the exhibit makes me want to see more. Thanks for the great review!
Posted by: CraftyRichela | 09/21/2009 at 02:09 PM