PITTSBURGH, PA.- The Andy Warhol Museum announced that it will present two exhibitions focused on the iconic filmmaker John Waters. The traveling exhibition, John Waters: Change of Life, on view May 21 through September 4, 2005 will feature more than 80 recent photographic and sculptural works and three early, unreleased films by Waters. Also on view will be a small exhibition entitled, John Waters Curates Andy’s “Porn” featuring artwork, films, videos and archival material hand-selected by Waters from The Warhol’s permanent collection and on view May 21 through August 28, 2005.

An opening party for the exhibitions will be held on Friday, May 20 from 7-10 p.m. and will feature lights bites, a cash bar and “bubblegum Pop” music spun by Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields and DJ Satisfaction Pony. Tickets are $15 and available by calling 412.237.8300. On Saturday, May 21 at 12 p.m., Waters will be at The Warhol for a free book-signing event.

John Waters: Change of Life - In a career spanning forty years, John Waters moved from the margins of culture to the mainstream, applying his iconoclastic vision and aesthetic to filmmaking, writing and now photography and sculpture. Waters began producing still photographic works in the early 1990s, scrutinizing videotapes of movies - his own, as well as over-the-top Hollywood movies and forgotten art films - and then producing images off of his television screen. The hilarious, erotic, rude, revealing and sometimes poignant moments that he captured became the raw material for artworks that Waters has dubbed his “little movies.” In these photographic sequences, Waters skewers cultural symbols and stereotypes, and elaborates on the cultural and subcultural themes that have been central to all his work: race, sex, sanctimony, glamour, class, family politics, celebrity, religion, the media and the allure of crime.

Waters uses still photography to reflect on the visual vocabulary and the emotional psychological power of filmmaking. The act of extracting images from films to make photographic works has allowed Waters to emphasize the many ways in which viewers respond to both moving and still images.

In addition to approximately 80 photographic and sculptural works, Change of Life will include three short films directed by Waters in the 1960s. The rarely-shown films include: Hag in a Black Leather Jacket (1964) made while Waters was a senior in high school; Roman Candles (1966) a film that marks the screen debut of Divine and Mink Stole; and Eat Your Makeup (1967) the story of three models who are kidnapped and forced to eat makeup and model themselves to death. All three films will be continuously screened in the seventh floor gallery space during the exhibition.

John Waters: Change of Life was organized by New Museum of Contemporary Art Director Lisa Phillips and New Museum Guest Curator Marvin Heiferman.

John Waters curates Andy’s "Porn”
Drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection and on view on the seventh floor, the paintings, photographs, videos, films and archival material in the exhibition have been personally selected by Waters in an effort to explore the influence of sexuality and sexual images on Andy Warhol’s life and work as well as the ever-evolving societal definition of pornography.

In conjunction with the exhibition, The Warhol will also present a film series entitled, “Films That Corrupted John Waters.” The series will feature eight films that Waters has chosen as having had an influence on his own creative work. Films include Joseph Losey’s Boom, Richard Fleischer’s Mandingo and Jacques Nolot’s Porn Theater among others. Screenings will take place on Good Fridays and Saturday afternoons in July and August. Details to come.

John Waters: Change of Life is accompanied by a fully-illustrated book published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. including essays by Lisa Phillips and Marvin Heiferman, Gary Indiana and others. The catalogue retails at $ 37.50 and will be available in The Warhol Store along with several other books by John Waters.

About the Artist - John Waters emerged as a controversial filmmaker in the late 1960s, when he began producing short films with an entourage of actors and crew known as Dreamland Studios, a diverse group that characterized the marginalized figures of society highlighted in Waters’s films. His exaggerated but loving depiction of people living on the fringes of normal American life persisted well into the 1980s and 1990s, when he began producing popular films such as Hairspray, Serial Mom and Pecker. The fact that his shock value tactics could withstand his transition from margin to mainstream and that his cultural themes still resonate with audiences worldwide underscores Waters continuing relevance as a filmmaker.

In addition to making films and artworks, Waters has contributed essays and articles to national publications such as Newsweek, Vanity Fair and Vogue. His social commentaries cover a broad range of topics, from bad hair to juvenile delinquency. Waters has published five books: Shock Value, Crackpot, Trash Trio, Director’s Cut and, most recently, Art: A Sex Book, co-authored with Bruce Hainley. Waters’s most recent feature film, A Dirty Shame was released in Summer 2004.