Titled, Stunt Lips, it’s No. 8 from an edition of eight pieces. Another piece from this edition is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, but not on display at present. Here’s the catalog description from MoMA:
John Waters (American, born 1946)
Stunt Lips
Date: (2003)
Medium: Cut-and-pasted chromogenic color
print on chromogenic color print
Dimensions: 3 7/8 x 6″ (9.8 x 15.2 cm)
Credit Line: The Judith Rothschild Foundation
Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift
MoMA Number:3363.2005
Copyright: © 2015 John Waters
On first viewing the image, I was disturbed in much the same way as I might be witnessing a mugging.
Then—thinking of Waters’ body of work including Hag in a Black Leather Jacket (1964, 8mm); Roman Candles (1966); Eat Your Makeup (1968, 16mm); Mondo Trasho (1969, 16mm); Serial Mom (1994); Pecker (1998); and more recently Cecil B. Demented (2000); and A Dirty Shame (2004)—I smiled.
Then, thinking of some of the stars he’s helped create, Divine, Mink Stole, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Edith Massey—I chuckled.
Remembering what he said about being called the Prince of Puke, “Why not? It’s better than, ‘He worked for his father’s company,’”—I laughed.
And, thinking back on his comment about irony, “The last line in Pecker is ‘To the end of irony.’ Because, yes, I’m an irony dealer. But irony is snobbery. If you’re really poor in a country where there’s famine, is there such a thing as irony? Is anything so bad it’s good? Usually irony is for the wealthy. It’s snobbism, in a way, because you’re saying something is good because it’s bad.”—I paused, thought, and considered.
After loosening up a bit, the piece seemed sort of tame. I began to wish that it was larger. Don’t you think it would be extraordinary at, say, 10-feet wide?
Here’s a link to the auction. The current bid is $1,200. Good luck.
As for me it’s all about scale. I’ll wait for Stunt LIps, the mural-sized rendition. Or the Christmas card.
