Last week, the time came to close the doors of Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood. ACMI has been extremely fortunate to host these amazing works of art since November last year, many of which usually live on the walls of Dennis Hopper’s house in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.
The process of de-installing the exhibition is a faster process than you might imagine.
Working on the de-install: Untitled, 1987, Jean-Michel Basquiat; Mad Scientist, 1963, Roy Lichtenstein.
After our conservators had diligently inspected and filled out the condition reports for each of the 314 artworks, photographs, and archive materials in the exhibition, the careful wrapping and packing of the works into their crates got underway; our art handlers are vigilant, precise, and swift!
Some of the most popular works in the exhibition were Dennis Hopper’s 1960s photographs featuring Los Angeles icons, film stars, and artists. These photographs highlight the era that brought us artists such as Warhol and Lichtenstein and the whole Pop art movement, and the packing of them fittingly resembled an art assembly line of its own:
Amongst the largest works ever exhibited at ACMI are Dennis Hopper’s billboard paintings. Billboard Factory (Multi Image of a Woman’s Face) (1964-2000), at 4.3m high and 6.5m wide, is the biggest to grace the ACMI Gallery 1 walls so far. Being too large to fit into a shipping container, these works had to be un-mounted from the frames, rolled, and wrapped in plastic for the journey home.
This is work that requires a lot of focus and concentration. Each work needs to be packed exactly as it arrived; with packing photos and high attention to detail, our art handlers ensure the best treatment is given to each and every artwork.
Packing artworks: (L-R) 'Chevy', 1956-2000, Dennis Hopper, 'Andy Warhol with Flower', 1963-2000, Dennis Hopper.
Packing artworks: (L-R) 'Andy Warhol with Flower,' 1963-2000, Dennis Hopper, 'Lemon Junction Late Summer Glut,' 1987, Robert Rauschenberg.
As some people may know, ACMI’s gallery one was originally one of the Flinders Street station train platforms and was converted into this custom designed gallery for the opening of ACMI in 2002. Train platforms are long, and the gallery stretches a distance of approximately 87 metres from end to end. Over the course of 5 days, as the works were gradually taken down and packed away, it’s a significant distance to cover. As one of our technicians commented: “There’s a lot of walking in this job.”
Julian Schnabel, Portrait of Dennis Hopper, 1999.
So finally, with the gallery empty, we say goodbye to Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood, as Dennis Hopper’s fame as an artist continues to grow. Look out for the survey exhibition his work, curated by Julian Schnabel, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles in July this year. Some of the works we’re sending home may not make it onto those Venice Beach walls just yet…
- Emma McRae, Curator, ACMI
That schnabel picture looks disturbingly broken from that angle (pic on the right). I know it is, but looks even more brokener.
Anyway good work y’all.
I’m really missing the Hopper exhibition, especially the Warhol’s and Dennis’ Polaroids.
Yikes! I couldn’t handle the pressure of being an art handler… imagine accidently stepping on (or ripping!) a Warhol?
Dennis Hoper has died and I am sorry for this loss.