Dennis Hopper

Interview, May, 2000 by Jeff Koons

IMPOSTERS BEWARE: THIS ALL-AROUND ARTIST IS THE REAL THING

JEFF KOONS: So, Dennis, have you ever used any animals in your artworks?

DENNIS HOPPER: There's one of my early photographs, when I was in my Cartier-Bresson period. I was finding people on the streets, and shooting them without their knowledge. There was a man standing in New York with three dogs on a leash, sort of a funny picture. But otherwise I didn't go out of my way to photograph animals.

JK: In your TV-western days, did you ever break a horse or go in for macho cowboy stuff?

DH: I used to stand in front of the mirror and quick-draw a lot, and I almost shot my toe off, but beyond that, no. My wife, Victoria, rides competitively; she has three horses.

JK: Is your wife's involvement with horses something new?

DH: No. Her father rode cross-country in the 1955 Pan Am Games in Mexico City, so she got it from him.

JK: Did you ever meet any celebrity animals?

DH: [laughs] Yes. I think I saw Francis the Talking Mule a couple of times because I was working at Universal and that's where Francis worked. I missed Rin Tin Tin even though the studio I was under contract to, Warner Bros., created him. As a matter of fact, when Jack Warner was asked who his favorite actor was he said Rin Tin Tin--"because he never complains about his dressing room and I pay him in hamburger."

Jeff Koons is an American artist whose work is in the permanent collections of the world's major museums. Dennis Hopper, waiting for a sign.