John 'Hoppy' Hopkins: Against Tyranny

Check out my review of his retrospective exhibition:

Nuclear scientist, squatter, trans-Siberian hearse driver, raver, convict, photographer and founder of the first sub-culture newspaper (the International Times), John ‘Hoppy' Hopkins in all his varied incarnations is exhibited currently at the Idea Generation gallery with his retrospective collection Against Tyranny.

‘Hoppy's images pull no punches and show an empire in decline,' says the blurb from the gallery. The way most people speak of the 60s, it is painted as quite the opposite of a decline; it was a period of ascent out of the cultural stagnancy of post-war gloom towards a vibrant era of music, youth culture and copious drug use, wasn't it?

Not so, say Hopkins' pictures of the slums. In one photograph titled ‘Poverty', a woman sits in her one-room makeshift bedsit, eking out the rest of the time she has left before the bulldozers come to clear the path for what will become the Westway. Behind her on the wall, two painted dancing figures contrast with the impending devastation of not only a building but also her life possessions, in what seems a cruel mockery. It's a powerful reminder that London was actually pretty shit back then. Just watch Withnail & I (again) if you want to see evidence of a decade that was more about wrecking balls than good vibes.

CND, the Vietnam war, the US civil rights movement and the UK's first wave of immigration dominated the social agenda. As a documenter and activist of the protest movement, Hopkins brought a very 60's perspective to the cause; LSD. "The effect is to kick your frame of reference and give it a good shake," Hopkins said of the acid experience. "[Taking it] helps us recognise we're all part of the same tribe".

His candid documentary-style photographs of street protesters seem naive in retrospect. Back then whole movements were borne out of protest, in contrast to modern protests that look more like art festivals.

A sign of quality in art is when it can be enjoyed without knowledge of the meaning. Hopkins' studied portraits (of Malc X, MLK, Lennon and Burroughs to name a few) are strong even without the knowledge of the personal relationships he had with his subjects. Yet somehow, while knowing his history with Burroughs, Ginsberg et al doesn't detract, it doesn't add anything either as you may have thought it would. Possibly because Hopkins' own role as protagonist imposes to the point of being dominant.

His opportunistic snapshots (Smackhead, Prostitute) are much more visceral and allow his talent as a photographer to breathe without the dulling layer of explicit socio-political comment. Couple, 5am is a beautiful, working class evocation of Robert Doisneau's Kiss by the Hotel De Ville.

The Psychedelic posters are impressive artefacts of graphic design, but the style has been ripped off so many times that they look like pastiches. Thanks a lot Austin Powers.

The spectre of the future casts a shadow over the whole exhibition. CND didn't really achieve it's goal; Vietnam is Iraq; we can see live pictures of US journalists being beheaded by insurgents on Youtube. Black and white photographs of protest marches for immigrant equality inspire a nostalgic hope that you can't help feeling is a little false, knowing that we have just elected the BNP. Knowing what we know now about the modern world, Hopkins' images feel quaint. But on the other hand they capture a spirit and optimism, a rare determination to effect change. At a time when the sentiment of this exhibition should be more relevant than ever, it throws into sharp relief the modern apathy towards those same issues that remain today. Perhaps what the world needs is more LSD...

URL to original article on Don't Panic's site here: http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/arts/john-hoppy-hopkins