The American Friend

01

Image

—01. Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmermann.

Words

Wim Wenders has made a number of masterpieces during his long career, but one my favourite films from the German director is The American Friend, starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz. This late 1970s picture, loosely based on Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game, has now been deemed worthy of the lavish Criterion treatment. Due to be released on January 12th, 2016, it is available for preorder and I'd highly recommend grabbing a copy. If you need convincing check out the trailer or read my colleague’s review in the latest issue of Inventory.

—Preorder from Criterion

Drugstore Camera by Dennis Hopper

Info

Clothbound
96 pages, 9.25 x 8 inches
Published by Damiani

Words

Drugstore Camera is the latest book of photographs by the late Hollywood rebel Dennis Hopper. The 96-page monograph centres around a series of unreleased images from his adopted hometown of Taos, New Mexico, shot with disposable cameras and processed by drugstore photo labs. "This clothbound collection documents Hopper's friends and family among the ruins and open vistas of the desert landscape, female nudes in shadowy interiors, road trips to and from his home state of Kansas and impromptu still lifes of discarded objects. These images, capturing iconic individuals, wide-open Western terrain and drug-addled fun, create a captivating view of the '60s and '70s that combines political idealism and optimism with California cool."

—Available from Artbook

Dennis Hopper – The Lost Album

Image

Double Standard, 1961
Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
© Dennis Hopper, Courtesy of The Dennis Hopper Art Trust

Words

Just opened and running until June 22nd at Gagosian's Madison Avenue gallery, this immense show features over 400 black and white photographs taken by Dennis Hopper between 1961 and 1967. These images have not been exhibited in the US since 1970, and the "cultural events, iconic individuals, and intimate moments that caught Hopper’s attention, constitute a panoramic view of the sixties that combines political idealism and humanistic optimism with California cool." The show is a must-see for those with an interest in "the establishment-busting spirit of the 1960s," but The Lost Album is also an accessible body of work, worthy of widespread attention.

—Gagosian Gallery