ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES OPENS JOHN WATERS: POPE OF TRASH ON VIEW SEPT 17, 2023–AUG 4, 2024
The First Comprehensive Exhibition Dedicated to the Filmmaker’s Contributions to Cinema Includes Never-Before-Shown Objects from Waters’s Films
Also Opening is Outside the Mainstream, Which Samples Works from
Other Radically Independent Filmmakers Including Gregg Araki, Shirley Clarke, Mike and George Kuchar, Gus Van Sant, Rose Troche, and Andy Warhol
LOS ANGELES, CA, September 14, 2023—The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open John Waters: Pope of Trash, the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the eponymous artist’s contributions to cinema, on September 17, 2023. Exploring his process, themes, and unmatched moviemaking approach, the exhibition traces the grotesque, daring, deliberately tacky, hilarious, and salacious elements that recur throughout Waters’s sixty-year career of filmmaking and reveals how his movies have redefined independent cinema. A robust film program complementing the exhibition begins with an ultra-rare silent screening of Eat Your Makeup (1968) on September 17 and continues with an extensive retrospective. An adjacent installation, Outside the Mainstream , highlights other radically independent filmmakers who also champion unconventional modes of film production and distribution.
John Waters: Pope of Trash is organized by Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Associate Curator Dara Jaffe, with the support of Research Assistant Emily Rauber Rodriguez and former Curatorial Assistant Esme Douglas. It will be the museum’s third large-scale temporary exhibition, following Hayao Miyazaki (2021–22) and Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971 (2022–23) in the museum’s 11,000-square-foot Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery.
On view through August 4, 2024, John Waters: Pope of Trash journeys through Waters’s complete filmography, from his do-it-yourself independent beginnings to his rebellious Hollywood productions, including four shorts and twelve feature films. Collaborating closely with Waters—anointed the “Pope of Trash” by author William S. Burroughs—as well as members of his casts and crews, the co-curators selected more than 400 works for the exhibition, many of which have never been displayed publicly.
Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Jacqueline Stewart said, “I offer my deep gratitude to John for trusting our museum with the formidable endeavor of telling the story of his vast film career. As the subject of numerous exhibitions on his visual art and photography, John is accustomed to the process of exhibition making. For John Waters: Pope of Trash, he has uniquely plumbed decades of remembrances and searched high and low—literally attics and basements— for the works seen in this exhibition.”
“Known for pushing the boundaries of ‘good taste,’ Waters has created a canon of high shock-value, high-entertainment movies tha t have cemented his position as one of the most revered independent auteurs in the history of American movies,” said Academy Museum Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Associate Curator Dara Jaffe. “Waters’s subversive audacity is matched only by his loving treatment of his characters. His cinematic worlds—consistently set in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland—are absent of mean spirit, which could account for his current phase of respectability, garnered despite decades of gleefully making ‘trash’ films.”
EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION AND HIGHLIGHTS
Visitors enter the exhibition through an introductory gallery featuring an abstracted chapel setting that winks at several aspects of Waters’s personal history and filmmaking. A gallery exploring the filmmaker’s early life and works includes Hag in a Black Leather Jacket (1964)—Waters’s first film, an 8mm short made when he was 17 years old—as well as Roman Candles (1967). These films, in addition to Eat Your Makeup (1968), Mondo Trasho (1969) and The Diane Linkletter Story (1970), have been restored by the Academy Film Archive for the exhibition with film materials on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for the latter three.
Individual feature films—Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Hairspray (1988), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), Cecil B. Demented (2000), and A Dirty Shame (2004)—are explored in depth through works such as handwritten scripts, set decoration, costumes, props, production design, posters, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and film clips. At the center of the exhibition is an experiential gallery highlighting the recurrence of music and dance throughout Waters’s films. The exhibition concludes with a gallery dedicated to Waters’s cult status, featuring fan art and other nods to the filmmaker’s career.
Highlights of never-before-exhibited objects on view include original handwritten scripts (on legal pads) from early films such as Multiple Maniacs and Pink Flamingos; eyeglasses from Pink Flamingos worn by Mink Stole as Connie Marble, which the Academy Museum has recently acquired and conserved; the electric chair from Female Trouble; Grizelda Brown’s tutu costume from Desperate Living worn by Jean Hill; scratch ’n’ sniff “Odorama” cards used for Polyester ’s theatrical gimmick; the exploding wig worn by Debbie Harry as Velma Von Tussle and Tracy Turnblad’s roach dress worn by Ricki Lake in Hairspray; Cry-Baby’s guitar and leather jackets worn by Johnny Depp and Jonathan Benya as Cry-Baby and Snare-Drum, respectively; the prop lamb leg weaponized by Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) in Serial Mom; the camera used by the titular character played by Edward Furlong in Pecker; the skeleton costume worn by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Raven in Cecil B. Demented; and a gas can prop used by Johnny Knoxville’s Ray Ray in A Dirty Shame.
Objects on view are from Waters’s personal collection; the John Waters Archive housed in the Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives at the Jeanine Basinger Center for Film Studies at Wesleyan University; the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library; the Academy Film Archive; the Vincent Peranio Archive housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University; and the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina Libraries. Private lenders, among them Waters’s cast, crew, and supporters, include Bob Adams, Jonathan Benya, Noah Brodie and Divine Official Enterprises, David Davenport, Tony Gardner, Jeffrey Pratt Gordon, Traci Lords, Gene Mendez, Pat Moran and Charles K. Yeaton, Deborah Rausch, Scott Rutherford, Ted Sarandos, Emily Sienicki, Mink Stole, Rachel Talalay, and Brook H. Yeaton.
As part of John Waters: Pope of Trash, the museum presents an interactive augmented reality experience in which visitors can style themselves as John Waters or a character from his films. Using a set of selfie face filters, guests will transform themselves into some of Waters’s most iconic characters, including Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray and Divine (living under the alias of Babs Johnson) in Pink Flamingos. Access the filters here.
OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM
Adjacent to John Waters: Pope of Trash, in the Warner Bros. Gallery, the Academy Museum presents Outside the Mainstream, an installation that pays homage to the work of other radically independent filmmakers—such as Kenneth Anger, Jack Smith, Andy Warhol, Gregg Araki, and Todd Haynes—who operate beyond the pale of mainstream cinema. Drawing from a vast list of non-conformists, this exhibition focuses on examples from the American avant-garde, underground film, and New Queer Cinema, movements that were supported by forward-thinking film journalists including Jonas Mekas and B. Ruby Rich.
Outside the Mainstream is organized by Exhibitions Curator Jenny He, with the support of Curatorial Assistant Manouchka Kelly Labouba.
FILM PROGRAMS
John Waters: Pope of Trash will be accompanied by a retrospective film screening series from September 17 to October 28, 2023, programmed by Interim Director of Film Programs K.J. Relth-Miller. Kicking off on the exhibition’s opening day, the museum will present a sold out, ultra-rare silent screening of Waters’s third film, Eat Your Makeup (1968), about women who are forced to model to the point of death, with simultaneous live commentary from Waters at 3pm. This rarely screened short, which first premiered in Baltimore’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church in 1968, was shot on 16mm with a Bell & Howell camera on view in the exhibition and was recently restored by the Academy Film Archive. That evening at 7:30pm, the museum will present a sold out 35mm screening of Serial Mom (1994), preceded by a conversation with Waters and Peaches Christ. A standby line for both screenings will be available.
Additional screenings include Multiple Maniacs (Sept. 21), Pink Flamingos (Sept. 23), Female Trouble (Sept. 28), Polyester (Sept. 29), Hairspray (Oct. 5), Desperate Living (Oct. 20), double feature screenings of Pecker and Cry-Baby (Oct. 26), and double feature screenings of Cecil B. Demented with A Dirty Shame (Oct. 28). For information about these programs and more, visit the Academy Museum website.
CATALOGUE AND EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE
John Waters: Pope of Trash is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 256-page catalogue co-published by the Academy Museum and DelMonico Books. Edited with text by curators Jenny He and Dara Jaffe, the book includes a foreword by Academy Museum Director and President Jacqueline Stewart; essays by film historian Jeanine Basinger; film critic and cultural theorist B. Ruby Rich, and producer David Simon; and a new interview with Waters by Sean Baker, Debbie Harry, Barry Jenkins, Johnny Knoxville, Bruce LaBruce, Ricki Lake, Orville Peck, Iggy Pop, Cindy Sherman, Kathleen Turner, Christine Vachon, and Edgar Wright. John Waters: Pope of Trash is now available at the Academy Museum Store. Fans will have the opportunity to meet Waters at a sold-out book signing of the exhibition catalogue on September 17 from 4:30pm to 7pm in the museum’s Tea Room on Level 5.
In addition, as of September 17, the Academy Museum Store will launch an exclusive, first-ever licensed Hairspray, Pink Flamingos, and Polyester collection in support of the exhibition. The store, which will have a pop-up within the exhibition, will also feature licensed Cry-Baby items as well as merchandise featuring Waters himself. Products will include items such as a Cry-Baby tee, a John Waters ornament, a BAGGU mini puffy tote and a puffy laptop case featuring roaches from Tracy Turnblad’s iconic gown in Hairspray, plus a range of ceramics, apparel, houseware, books, posters, and accessories. The line will feature an exclusive collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Seth Bogart, including a filthy trash bin, soap dish, bathmat, apparel, and more.
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Image Credits: (left, right) John Waters: Pope of Trash, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by: Charles White, JWPictures/©Academy Museum Foundation, (center) Photo by Greg Gorman, ©Academy Museum Foundation
Exhibition Credit: John Waters: Pope of Trash is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and made possible in part by major funding from Agnes Gund and Robert and Eva Shaye, The Four Friends Foundation. Generous support provided by Emma Koss and Sara Risher. Technology solutions generously provided by Christie®. Academy Museum Digital Engagement Platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.Outside the Mainstream is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.About the Academy Museum of Motion PicturesThe Academy Museum is the largest museum in the United States devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking. The museum advances the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema through inclusive and accessible exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives, and collections. Designed by Pritzker Prize– winning architect Renzo Piano, the museum’s LEED gold certified campus contains the restored and revitalized historic Saban Building—formerly known as the May Company building (1939)—and a soaring spherical addition. Together, these buildings contain 50,000 square feet of exhibition spaces, two state-of-the-art theaters — the David Geffen Theater and Ted Mann Theater — the Shirley Temple Education Studio, and beautiful public spaces that are free and open to the public. These include: The Walt Disney Company Piazza and the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby, which houses the Spielberg Family Gallery, the Academy Museum Store, and Fanny’s restaurant and café. The Academy Museum exhibition galleries and store are open six days a week, from 10am to 6pm and are closed on Tuesdays and Christmas Day.
