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# Joining A Contemporary Art Biker Gang With John Waters
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/contemporary-art-biker-gang-john-waters/
- Published: 2011-08-25T22:25:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:48:40.000Z
- Description: Pope of Trash, filmmaker John Waters, who is known for his filthy classics like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray, has joined a biker gang. Surprisingly, it is a contemporary art biker gang.
- Author: Emily Colucci
- Tags: Opinion, #image-position-hidden, John Waters, Mike Kelley, Walker Art Center, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/08/john-waters-in-walker-galleries-450x292.jpg)

John Waters in the Walker Art Center galleries (via blogs.walkerart.org)

Pope of Trash, filmmaker [John Waters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%5FWaters%5F%28filmmaker%29?ref=hyperallergic.com), who is known for his filthy classics like [*Pink Flamingos*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069089/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [*Female Trouble*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072979/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [*Hairspray*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095270/?ref=hyperallergic.com), has joined a biker gang. Surprisingly, it is a contemporary art biker gang.

From curating an exhibition [*Absentee Landlord*](http://calendar.walkerart.org/canopy.wac?id=6186&hp=link&poster=Flash&ref=hyperallergic.com)at the Walker Art Center to having book signings at the Gagosian Shop and the Paula Cooper Gallery, to writing an essay on art in his book [*Role Models*](http://www.amazon.com/Role-Models-John-Waters/dp/0374251479?ref=hyperallergic.com)*,* Waters has become an oddball staple in the art world. Loving artists such as [Mike Kelley](http://www.mikekelley.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), who Waters said made galleries look like “a coroner’s office displaying corpses of toys after an airplane crashed into Santa’s sleigh mid-flight on Christmas Eve,” Waters supports the contemporary artists whose art, much like Water’s films, angers the general public.

In an interview with [Big Think](http://bigthink.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), Waters speaks on how contemporary art’s purpose is to destroy what came before it. Among other interesting and hilarious comments made in this video, including a description of a work by [Karin Sander](http://www.karinsander.de/?ref=hyperallergic.com) that would literally kill the collector, I was fascinated by Waters’s assertion that being able to understand contemporary art is like joining a biker gang.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/08/contemporary-art-hates-you-11-e1314198444134.jpg)

John Waters, "Contemporary Art Hates You," 2009 (via drawingontheland.com)

Maybe there should be a biker gang of contemporary art enthusiasts with Waters’s own *Contemporary Art Hates You* (2009) emblazoned on the back of a leather jacket. Another option could be a jacket covered with Waters’s favorite [Cy Twombly’s](http://www.cytwombly.info/?ref=hyperallergic.com) “bad handwriting” art. Imagine roving bands of art lover-delinquents recreating scenes from [Ryan Trecartin’s](http://www.elizabethdeegallery.com/artists/view/ryan-trecartin?ref=hyperallergic.com) films in public places, terrorizing unsuspecting citizens.

How do you join this contemporary art biker gang, John? I want to sign up.