John Waters: Unwatchable
by Brenda Richardson, John Waters, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York/de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich: August 2006, 96pp. (paperback)

In a powerful new body of photographs, sculpture and installation, John Waters continues his investigations of film history and contemporary politics. Primarily known as the filmmaker behind such cult classics as Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Pecker, Waters has been making “fine” art since the early 1990s. In it, he tackles both cinematic themes and political events by building narratives, frame by frame, from early commercial films. In this publication, Waters shares the method by which he constructs each work as if he were making a personal guidebook, so that his snapshots, color photographs and handwritten notes indicating composition are re-created as if in their original plastic organizational sleeves. Neither the art world, celebrity miscreants, politicians or Waters himself are spared in these incisive new works. An essay by Brenda Richardson examines Waters’s history, as well as each work, in brief and brilliant detail.