Waters wonders, if the two “media villains” had met as children, would their lives have been different? In the following room is the most disturbingly hilarious piece in the exhibit: a work called Play Date that imagines a meeting between Charles Manson and Michael Jackson. He was amused and astounded by how “politically incorrect” and “completely unironic” the sign was for any artist and thus recreated and parodied it many years later. In his audio commentary, Waters says that the first sign (profit or hobby) was inspired by a sign that he saw on St. On display near the room’s ceiling is a large palette-shaped sign that reads, “Study Art: for profit or hobby.” This sign continues to appear in different parts of the exhibition, with the “for profit or hobby” being ironically replaced with such reasons as for “pride or power,” “fun or fame,” and “prestige or spite.” It announces its jarring tone and subversive humor from the very first step you take into the hall. Like his films, Waters’ exhibition aims to shock, excite and entertain its audience. The Dreamlanders not only make multiple appearances in his movies but are also a huge part of the artworks on display in the exhibition. Since his earliest works, Waters has shot movies in and about Baltimore with his troupe of local actors called the Dreamlanders, which includes the famous drag queen Divine and recurring actors like Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary and more. (In Pink Flamingos, an unedited one-take scene shows Divine, the lead actor of the movie, eating dog feces.)Īn openly gay man, Waters has been a staunch LGBTQ activist and has made many movies and works of art that reflect this sentiment. His extensive filmography with movies like Eat Your Makeup (1968), Mondo Trasho (1969) and Pink Flamingos (1972) has continuously and fearlessly tested the boundaries of propriety and transgression with its dark humor and shock value. However, Hairspray happens to be one of the artist’s tamest works when compared to the transgressive, indie, cult films he rose to fame with. The movie, set in Baltimore circa 1962, is a stirring yet entertaining advocate for body positivity and racial equality in the City. John Waters is widely known for his hit film Hairspray (1988).

The exhibition is simultaneously hilarious and thought-provoking. It features more than 160 provocative photographs, sculptures, videos and sound works. The BMA dubs it “the first major retrospective of John Waters’ visual arts career in his hometown of Baltimore.”

John Waters’ exhibit Indecent Exposure opened on Oct.

John waters bma