BMA to exhibit works from John Waters' personal collection starting in November

BALTIMORE -- In fall 2020, the Baltimore Museum of Art announced beloved local cult filmmaker, writer and artist John Waters was gifting the museum approximately 375 works of fine art from his personal collection.

"The first art I ever bought was a two-dollar Miró poster at The Baltimore Museum of Art gift shop back in the '50s when I was a child. After taking it home and hanging it on my bedroom wall at my parents' house, I realized from the hostile reaction of my neighborhood playmates that art could provoke, shock, and cause trouble," the auteur said at the time. "I became a collector for life. It's only fitting that the fruits of my 60-year search for new art that could startle, antagonize, and infuriate even me, ends up where it all began-in my hometown museum."

Starting in November, visitors to the BMA will get a look at some of the highlights through the exhibit "Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection."

About 90 works have been selected for "Coming Attractions" by photographer Catherine Opie and artist Jack Pierson, including pieces by Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol, among others.

"Our hope is to share with audiences another aspect of John's creative vision by offering a glimpse into what he values: artists who are unafraid to take risks, who do not compromise, and who create their art on the margins," said Opie and Pierson.

In a press release, the museum said Waters' bequest "brings a cutting-edge articulation of American individualism to the BMA's collection, particularly as it relates to queer identity and freedom of expression."

At the time the gift was announced, museum director Christopher Bedford, who has since left the institution, said the donation was right up there with contributions to the BMA's collection from the likes of Robert Garrett, Jacob Epstein, Mary Frick Jacobs, Claribel and Etta Cone, Saidie Adler May, and many others.

"The addition of John Waters' collection brings an extraordinary new chapter to these legacies and offers a particular point of pride for the Baltimore community," said Christopher Bedford, the BMA's Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. "As with other significant collections with the museum, John's collection is developed through an acute personal sensibility that harnesses the power of art to elicit humor, provoke questions, and challenge long-held traditions and norms."

"Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection" is on view from Nov. 20 to April 16, 2023.