cannabisnews.com: Dennis Hopper Says Museum Show Tops Easy Rider





Dennis Hopper Says Museum Show Tops Easy Rider
Posted by FoM on February 17, 2001 at 07:25:11 PT
By Matt Daily 
Source: Reuters Online 
The first museum retrospective of Dennis Hopper's art work opened on Saturday, and the movie star pronounced it the highlight of a tumultuous life -- topping even his classic film ``Easy Rider.'' ``It is the most important thing that ever happened to me, to be here at this museum. That is serious, this is not about making 'Easy Rider', it is about making these paintings,'' said Hopper, referring to his 1969 movie about two hippies motorcycling across the United States in a drug-fuelled search for freedom from convention. 
``That is much more important to me than anything else that has ever happened in my life,'' he told reporters. The show at Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum, which runs until April 16, is a collection of more than 100 paintings, photos, films and sculpture dating back to the mid-1950s. The works show a wide diversity in styles, from abstract expressionism to efforts in photo-realism. A number of photos show giants of the art world -- Robert Rauschenberg sticking out his tongue, Andy Warhol smiling shyly behind a flower. ``I am very humbled by having this show,'' said Hopper. ``I am fully aware that Cezanne in his lifetime never had a retrospective, I am fully aware that Van Gogh never had a retrospective and so many of the great artists were never allowed to see their work in one place.'' Hopper, 64, started painting in the 1950s. His work has been exhibited in galleries for years, and the actor, renowned for his roles in such films as ``Easy Rider,'' ``Apocalypse Now'' and ``Blue Velvet,'' has long been a serious art collector. Hopper admitted heavy drug and alcohol use had played a role in a number of works in the new exhibit. The artist, now sober and drug-free for 18 years -- save the occasional marijuana cigarette -- pointed to paintings that museum director Rudi Fuchs referred to as ``wild.'' ``I shut myself up and I did all those paintings in a couple of weeks, up the whole time on cocaine,'' he said. But Hopper did not credit his creativity to the drugs. Instead, he recalled how acting guru Lee Strasberg taught him to use his senses and how Jackson Pollock's art teacher Thomas Hart Benton urged him as young man to ``get tight and paint loose.'' ``I think getting in a state where you are free of any pre-conceived ideas and attack a canvas with just source materials is a wonderful freeing experience,'' he said. Despite his art world achievements, Hopper said he was not ready to abandon acting and directing. ``For the last four years I have been working on having this retrospective, and that is all I have done. I have done just a couple of movies just to keep some money in my pocket,'' he said. ``I am going to direct a movie shortly, as soon as I get out of this.'' Summary:   The first museum retrospective of Dennis Hopper's art work opened on Saturday, and the movie star pronounced it the highlight of a tumultuous life -- topping even his classic film ``Easy Rider.''Amsterdam (Reuters) Source: Reuters OnlineAuthor: Matt DailyPublished: Saturday, February 17, 2001 Copyright © 2001 Reuters LimitedEasy Rider (1969) http://www.filmsite.org/easy.html30 Years of Easy Riderhttp://home.earthlink.net/~sirkus/easy.html
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on February 17, 2001 at 13:23:04 PT
Important E-Mail News
Florida Drug Czar Summit     Activists plan protest for Feb 23 summit from cc on-lineBy Pete Brady08 Feb, 2001Florida's drug czar is having a summit, and pot people will be there to protest.According to Christopher Mulligan, who runs a NORML chapter affiliated with Florida State University, Florida czar James McDonough has invited 350 guests, including former drug czar William Bennett, to a February 23 summit in Tallahassee.Mulligan says students, medpot patients and other activists will rally at the state capitol during the summit. Their message: Florida's draconian drug laws violate human rights and waste money.For information, contact: fsunorml hotmail.comThis article was sent to you by someone searching the Cannabis Culture Magazine archives. The URL for this article is:http://www.cannabisculture.com/cgi/article.cgi?num=1861Cannabis Culture Magazine - http://www.cannabisculture.com/PO Box 15, 199 West Hastings, Vancouver BC,Canada V6B 1H4
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 17, 2001 at 12:07:28 PT
How are you?
Hi Jeff,How have you been? I haven't seen you for a long time. You got a web address. Cool! I just got one for my personal pages too. I hope to see you more often! http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/
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Comment #1 posted by RevChristen-Mitchell on February 17, 2001 at 11:57:01 PT:
Peter Honda and Dennis Chopper
The FreeWorld Peoples all have a debt of gratitude to the dude who did it first....burned like an chiminey. Smokin!
http://www.christen-mitchell.com
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