JOHN WATERS (b. 1946, Baltimore, MD),

'Drunk', 1998

SIGNED Limited Edition Photogravure Print

Color photogravure print, ed. 40, XXXV. Dimensions: 11-1/4" x 20" sheet (28.6 × 50.8 cm). SIGNED and numbered by the artist in pencil under image in margin. Excellent condition with no visible defects (never framed or displayed).

John Waters takes his imagery for prints from stills of movies, both his and others. The images for "Drunk" are of Edith Massey in "Female Trouble", on the left, and Glenn Milstead, "Divine," in "Pink Flamingos", on the right.

John Waters' four-color print "Drunk" is an historic achievement in the development of photogravure, traditionally a one-color medium for reasons of technical difficulty in the registering of multi-plate impressions.

Photogravure, an intaglio printing process, gives unique luminosity, texture and durability to photographic prints. In four-color printing, it allows for great richness, saturation and experimentation.

'Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection' is on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), Baltimore, MD, 11/20/2022 - 4/16/2023.

'John Waters: Probe' was recently on view at the Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown, MA, (2022). In addition, 'The Worst of Waters: Works Never Before Exhibited in Baltimore. The Rudest, The Hardest to Sell, The Just Plain Wrong.', featuring twenty-six artworks spanning decades of the artist’s career, was recently on view at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD (2022).

Best known for directing the cult film classics Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Female Trouble, and Hairspray, John Waters explores the same provocative themes of race, sex, gender, consumerism, and religion in photography, montage, and, more recently, sculpture. Featuring retro imagery from the 1950s, Waters’ work is rife with humor and puns. For instance, in Ham (2009), Waters photographs a large glazed ham hanging on the wall of a movie star or casting agent. Catholic Sin (2009) is an illustration from his own childhood catechism book that equated the purity of the soul with fresh milk. Two oversized sculptures—Rush (2009), a gigantic “popper” bottle and its spilled contents, and La Mer (2009), a jar of face cream—poke fun at our cultish obsession with beauty products and drugs.

John Waters has had a profound influence on contemporary popular culture through his work in film. He is the author and director of the legendary cult classics Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Pecker, as well as of the popular mainstream features Hairspray, Serial Mom, and Cecil B. Demented. Waters has exhibited in New York, Tokyo, Milan, and throughout Switzerland and Germany.

PLEASE SEE MY OTHER AUCTIONS BY CLICKING MY

Store

ICON ABOVE