For the 20 photographic works included in this exhibition Waters culled stills from movies classified as "unwatchable" in reviews. In contrast to earlier, more narrative and modestly sized sequences of images, Waters has enlarged the scale of these works and tightened his focus.
Reckless Eyeballs
Rena Bransten Gallery is pleased to announce John Waters: Reckless
Eyeballs, the artist's third solo exhibition with the gallery.
For the 20 photographic works included in this exhibition Waters culled
stills from movies classified as "unwatchable" in reviews. In contrast
to earlier, more narrative and modestly sized sequences of images,
Waters has enlarged the scale of these works and tightened his focus.
The resulting one or two panel compositions use images which would
otherwise be consigned to oblivion to generate humorous and satirical
digs at subjects ranging from focus group testers (Art Market Testing),
to "screeners," advance copies on DVD of the year's movies competing for
Oscar nominations (Destroy all Screeners), to perceived notions of good
taste (Phaedra).
Reckless Eyeballs will also feature 4 sculptural/installation works.
They range from Slimy JW, a six foot casting of a joke shop rubber snake
representing Waters' reincarnated self to Sound of a Hit, an actual
recording of money changing hands inside the box-office during the
opening day of a Hollywood blockbuster hit.
John Waters was born in 1946 in Baltimore. In 2004 his exhibition John
Waters: Change of Life premiered at the New Museum of Contemporary Art,
New York and traveled to the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; The
Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA; and The Orange County Museum of Art,
Newport Beach, CA. He has had numerous exhibitions in the United States
and abroad and his work is currently included in Dialogues &Attitudes at
the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary.
A fully-illustrated 96-page catalogue with an essay by Brenda Richardson
is available in conjunction with the exhibition.
Reception: Thursday, July 12, 5:30-7:30PM (in the presence of the
artist)
Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street - San Francisco
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30AM to 5:30PM and Saturday
11:00AM to 5PM.