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	Itar-Tass Dennis Hopper is shown at the opening with his 1964 portrait of artist James Rosenquist.

Stars in His Eyes

Veteran actor and photographer Dennis Hopper came to Moscow to put together a retrospective of his work.

By Marina Kamenev
Published: September 21, 2007

Dennis Hopper has carved out a career as a painter and photographer. But some people, including the curators of his exhibitions, sing his praises for another reason: Directing and starring in the era-defining 1969 movie "Easy Rider."

"It's a film where the others are the enemy," rhapsodized Olga Sviblova, director of the Moscow House of Photography. "It's like it was in the Soviet Union, and it's the attitude that's becoming popular again today, with Bush and Iraq, with these multicolored revolutions. This movie is about life."

Hopper's photographs went on display at the Manezh Exhibition Hall this week in a show curated by Sviblova. The mostly black-and-white pictures span four decades of artists, actors and landscapes and capture all the romance and angst of Hollywood.

Hopper is most famous for his role alongside James Dean in the 1955 "Rebel Without a Cause" and for "Easy Rider," although he always maintained an interest in art. He specialized in photography because of an accident he perhaps took as a sign -- his paintings were destroyed when his house in the Los Angeles suburb of Bel Air burned down in 1961, but his photos were stored elsewhere and survived.

One of his earliest photographs is of a glamorous-looking biker couple. The girl, with heavily lined eyes, pouts and smokes, while her tattooed boyfriend stares out into the distance. They are drinking beer in what looks like a diner, and the photo seems to capture a number of stereotypes of the United States: the romance of the open road and the freedom.

"The 1960s were a time of optimism, people thought that they could change the world then, and there is something about Hopper's images that gives that away," Sviblova said.

MDF Hopper's portrait of comedian Bill Cosby twined in ivy, taken in 1962, is one of the works on display.

The photographs of celebrities are the most interesting, particularly a black-and-white print of actor Paul Newman sitting in the sun, his body marked by the criss-cross shadows of a fence that intersect the lines on his forehead. Also notable is the 1962 picture of a young Bill Cosby, whose head and feet peek out from behind a huge clump of ivy.

The photographs of artists include one of Jasper Johns, famous for his images of the American flag, sticking out his tongue. Swedish-born sculptor Claes Oldenburg is shown surrounded by a sea of wedding cakes, while Andy Warhol appears in a disorienting shot sitting on a couch with his friends.

"The amazing thing is that Hopper had such an acute sense of art. Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg were not famous when he took their photographs, but Hopper just had this feeling" that they were important, Sviblova said.

The setting of the photographs, though, does not do them full justice. The Manezh's cold glass surfaces, uninspiring partitions and fluorescent lighting seem more suited to expositions and conferences than art installations, however Sviblova said she wanted to make sure that Hopper's art was in the heart of the city.

"Somewhere like this is accessible to everyone, so everyone should be able to see it," she said.

Hopper's turbulent past is well known: In the 1970s he immersed himself in a sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle and even had a stint in rehab. But Sviblova said Hopper was very punctual and easy to deal with.

"I've had visitors that sent me lunch and dinner demands, but Dennis was fine. He didn't even need to go through the VIP exit at the airport," she recalled.

Hopper also spent four days in the Manezh basement setting up the exhibition himself. "I once suggested that he move something, and that's when I caught a glimpse of his temper. His eyes looked like lasers, his facial expression just said it all," Sviblova said.

Hopper was angered by the positioning of one of the photographs. "There was no space left on the panel with artists, so I tried to put a photograph of an actor next to one of the painters," Sviblova said. "I saw his eyes light up, and he started to shout, 'You can't put artists next to these actors, the actors are philistines; none of them have even owned an artwork. You cannot under any circumstances put them on the same wall.'"

"Dennis Hopper at the Manezh" runs to Oct. 7 at the Manezh Exhibition Hall, located at 1 Manezh Square. Metro Okhotny Ryad. Tel. 698-1660.

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