Dennis Hopper: On the Road

by Dennis Hopper (Artist)

Director, actor, photographer, artist and art collector, Dennis Hopper was a man of diverse talents who intersected with countless key moments in American culture--particularly, and most famously, in the 1960s. Hopper’s great gifts as a photographer are well established, with many of his images having entered public consciousness. This handsomely produced volume looks at Hopper’s photography throughout its glory years, from 1961 to 1967. In these years, Hopper carried a camera everywhere, from bars to marches, art openings to freeways. Conceived as a kind of road trip across America, the book runs the gamut of 1960s counterculture and film culture, taking in Warhol’s Factory (where Hopper spent much time), film shoots, street scenes, road trips and of course the classic portraits of movie stars, musicians, artists, bikers and activists, from Martin Luther King to Allen Ginsberg and James Brown. The result of exhaustive research into the artist’s archives at the Dennis Hopper Art Trust, and with a wealth of previously unpublished images, Dennis On the Road offers a first-hand, collective portrait of an era.
Dennis Hopper (1936–2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. An exceptional creative talent, his work in film, photography, painting and sculpture gained him both critical acclaim and a high public profile. He won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for 1969’s Easy Rider . His photographic work continues to be featured in high-profile international exhibitions.

Genres: Photography, Film, Nonfiction

273 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2013

About the author

Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor and film director. He is known for his roles as mentally disturbed outsiders and rebels. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Hopper studied acting at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and the Actors Studio in New York. Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s.
Hopper made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in two of the films that made James Dean famous, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). He then acted in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969). Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider (1969), which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern. The film earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
He became frequently typecast as mentally disturbed outsiders in such films as Mad Dog Morgan (1976), The American Friend (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979), Rumble Fish (1983), and Blue Velvet (1986). He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Hoosiers (1986). His later film roles included True Romance (1993), Speed (1994), Waterworld (1995) and Elegy (2009). He appeared posthumously in the long-delayed The Other Side of the Wind (2018), which had previously been filmed in the early 1970s.
Other directorial credits for Hopper include The Last Movie (1971), Out of the Blue (1980), Colors (1988), and The Hot Spot (1990). He received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for his role in Paris Trout (1991). His other television roles include in the HBO film Doublecrossed (1991), 24 (2002), the NBC series E-Ring (2005–2006), and the Starz series Crash (2008–2009).

Reviews

[Siel Ju · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I believe you must keep free for things to happen for the accident — then learn how to use the accident.” In 2013 the Museo Picasso Malaga put on an exhibit of Dennis Hopper’s photography of America in the 60s — plus a random handful from 1990s Japan. Check it out for pictures of everyone from Jefferson Airplane to Tina Turner, Matin Luther King, Jr to Bill Cosby, Andy Warhol to Nikki de Saint Phalle. Plus the book contains a bunch of interviews with Dennis about art, photography, acting and making Easy Rider.