contemporary art

John Waters is an American filmmaker well known for his provocative movies – among them Pink Flamingos (1972), Hairspray (1988), and, A Dirty Shame (2004). Recently I discovered his contemporary art work and I was fascinated with his sense of humor and clever concepts.

Much of Waters’s artwork consists of film stills that he photographs off his TV and arranges into narratives of his own invention. He transforms and collages different Hollywood stills; organizing them into categories, manipulating them digitally and overlaying juxtapositions to highlight hidden or new meanings. The images’ imperfection is important to him; he usually shoots from VHS and doesn’t press pause. He refers to them as “my little movies.”

Waters calls his art conceptual and acknowledges its connection to Richard Prince’s appropriative work. The craft is not the issue here. The idea is and the presentation.

John Waters
“Children Who Smoke” (2009)
Eight C-prints, each image 5 x 7 in

John Waters

John Waters
Pay $ or $ Play

John Waters
A Passion For Audrey (2010)
C-prints Photographs

John Waters
“Rush” (2009)
Polyurethane, oil, PVC plastic

Read and see more John Waters’s work at:

• www.artnet.com
• www.marianneboeskygallery.com
• www.artinfo.com