Divine in the O.C.

John_Waters

For those queens in or visiting Southern California, you have just a few weeks left to jaunt on over to the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach to see a retrospective of iconoclastic and more importantly fabulous director John Water’s recent photographic and sculptural work. Ok, sounds a little too arty for a just-after-Christmas trip, but this is not some chain-smoking art fag. This is a Hairspray/Pink Flamingos art fag, so you know it’s worth the trip.

In his artworks, Waters uses still photography to reflect on the visual vocabulary and the emotional and psychological power of filmmaking. The act of extracting images from films that takes place in these photographic works allows Waters to emphasize the multitude of ways in which we respond to both moving and still photographic images. Through his insistent allusions to the editing process, Waters encourages viewers to consider how each of us creates our own personal narratives as we decode, interpret and re-contextualize the plethora of images that constantly bombard us.

A mixture of sculpture, photographs, and never before seen short films (our favorite is simply titled Farrah) the exhibition promises to put a shot of wig glue and hairspray into the staid arm of the Orange County art scene. We’re going just to see his recreation of the Kennedy Assassination Zapruder Film with the late drag queen Divine as Jackie O. What more could you want from art? Runs through January 15th.


John Waters: Change of Life
[Orange County Museum of Art Official Site]

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