Currently reading : John Waters, Bad Director’s Chair
John Waters, Bad Director’s Chair
8 February 2014
Author : joseph-delaney
Bad Director’s Chair, 2006Control, 2009Playdate, 2006
Rear Projection, 2009
Sprüth Magers Berlin
Oranienburger Straße 18
Berlin D-10178
An exhibition by the undisputed champion of bad taste and pioneering independent filmmaker John Waters isnow on at Berlin’s Sprüth Magers gallery.
The director is known for his transgressive film style, from classic comedies Hairspray and Cry-Baby, defined in his 1972 black comedy Pink Flamingos which highlighted the darker side of Hollywood glamour and made an underground star of larger-than-life drag queen Divine, entirely written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by Waters.
The exhibited works bring Waters’ dark wit and often twisted honesty to the gallery setting, presenting works like Playdate, a silicon, synthetic and human hair, “Charles Manson and Michael Jackson, reborn as perfect babies – could they have saved each other if they had met on a playdate before their lives went wrong?” Photographic work further accentuates the director’s sharp eye, outdoing even himself by presenting single stills taken from feature films, often on TVs, that highlight moments overlooked, re-contextualised via storyboard.
Alongside the exhibition, specially made ‘peep rooms’ will show three of the director’s earliest films, including his very first Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, which showed only once to a limited audience when first released when Waters was just 18 and tells a twisted tale of cross-cultural romance during a time of heightened racial tensions, breaking boundaries from the instant his thin moustached face got behind the camera.
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Established in 2005, Sang Bleu Media originated as a magazine, and evolved into the innovative digital platform it is today. Representing modern culture, Sang Bleu focuses on the unique expressions of urban society through contemporary art and fashion, sociology and literature. From fine arts to fashion and luxury, to body modification, tattoos or musical subcultures, Sang Bleu seeks to understand and represent modern reality through the unique visions of today’s artists.
Sang Bleu Publishing focuses on experimental projects with no rigid format. It has been at the helm of a multitude of releases, in collaboration with artistic institutions and individuals, like the Palais de Tokyo, or the poet Daniel Feinberg. It also is the publisher of the globally acclaimed Sang Bleu Magazine. These publications are available in the curated online store of Sang Bleu Media, amongst other collectables from hardback art and design books to fashion and fetish magazines.
Besides its print publications, Sang Bleu Media is also a digital platform constituting of online editorial spaces and a myriad of communities, giving each production, the opportunity to express itself under many forms and to be perceived under many angles, reaching not only specialist audiences, but also organically reaching a wider audience, thus challenging perceptions and contributing to the evolution of contemporary culture.
contact
Email: info@sangbleu.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 7254 7083
Sang Bleu London
29b Dalston Lane
London E8 3DF
United Kingdom