His art retrospective is up at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and every year around Christmas he takes the stage as a “St. Nick for the Christmas corrupted” to spread the holiday spirit. And now this Valentine’s Day, John Waters, Baltimore’s beloved agitator and the Pope of Trash, is going to be a date in the very intimate setting of the Baltimore Soundstage.
“She Shoulda Said ‘No!’“ was a 1949 exploitation film in the “Reefer Madness” mold, designed to warn red-blooded, young Americans about the moral rot, social deviancy and sexual degeneracy that comes with using drugs. In it, a young woman’s experiments with weed lead her into a wayward spiral of selling drugs, losing her job and promiscuity, her moral downfall pushing her brother to suicide. Only after cleaning up in jail and collaborating with authorities can she right her way in life.
Baltimoreans are familiar with John Waters’ films, and now they’ll get a chance to see more of more of his visual art.
Starting Oct. 7, the Baltimore Museum of Art is showing “John Waters: Indecent Exposure,” an exhibit of 160 photographs, sculptures, sound and video works made by the director since the 1990s. The museum says it is the first major retrospective of Waters’ visual art in his hometown.
John Waters’ 1974 film “Female Trouble,” about a hell-raising runaway student (Divine) who becomes a model for beauticians that like to photograph women committing crimes, is getting the Criterion Collection treatment this summer.
“You better watch out. You better cry,” taunts the hot pink poster for an upcoming holiday event at Baltimore Soundstage. “John Waters, the People’s Pervert, is coming to town.”
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The actor Divine was so dedicated to his craft that he took trampoline lessons at the YMCA to prepare for a scene in filmmaker John Waters’ 1974 movie, “Female Trouble.”
The New York Times’ travel section fixated on Baltimore for a second straight week this month, supplementing its “36 Hours in Baltimore” guide with a column on Charm City’s unique mix of fun, artistic flare and affordability.
Now that “Multiple Maniacs” has been released in Blu-Ray format, another John Waters movie is about to hit the shelves.
