Press release from ACMI
On the eve of his arrival in Melbourne, Hollywood legend Dennis Hopper has been forced to cancel his planned visit to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) after announcing today that he is suffering from prostate cancer.
The veteran actor and director is the subject of a major new Australian exclusive exhibition, Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood, which will open at ACMI on Thursday 12 November. He was due to arrive in Melbourne next week to oversee the exhibition installation and to take part in the official opening program, which featured a Q&A between Dennis Hopper and David Stratton.
In a statement issued from his Los Angeles home this morning, Hopper said he was very disappointed not to be able to travel to Melbourne for the exhibition opening, but was now fully focussed on his treatment and recovery.
ACMI Director Tony Sweeney said today that best wishes have been sent from Melbourne as the ACMI Exhibitions team busily prepares to open the new exhibition that celebrates Hopper’s career through an expansive and rich exploration of his life’s work.
“Obviously his health is the number one priority and we wish him a very speedy recovery.” Tony said. “And while we are saddened that Dennis won’t be with us to share in the moment, the show will go on and we look forward with even greater determination to an exciting and successful exhibition”.
Patrons who purchased tickets to see Hopper in person at either the In Conversation with Dennis Hopper and David Stratton or the Dennis Hopper Masterclass will be able to get a refund by contacting ACMI on 03 8663 2583 or 03 8663 2200.
Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood is an expansive exhibition showcasing an extraordinary man’s life’s work, his collaborations and personal art collection, and is an amazing insight into a formative era of Hollywood.
The exhibition traces the paradoxes of an America undergoing transformation – from pop culture to suburban subculture, psychedelia to slam poetry, rebellion to disillusionment. It brings together Hopper’s own photography and film work as both director and actor — including films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Blue Velvet (1986), Apocalypse Now (1968) and the Australian production Mad Dog Morgan (1976) — with Hopper’s exceptional private collection of contemporary art. Dennis Hopper’s own work is shown alongside paintings, photographs and sculptures by major American artists such as Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Jenny Holzer.
Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood was originally produced by the Cinémathèque Française, in association with Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider Productions, and curated by Matthieu Orlean, who is currently in Australia. The exhibition is accompanied by a contextual film season titled Focus on Hopper’s America (3 to 13 December) and a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Easy Rider (26 December to 18 January). Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood opens at ACMI on Thursday 12 November 2009 and exhibits until Sunday 25 April 2010.