"Contemporary Art Hates You," John Waters declares across one of several banner-like photographic collages in his current show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York. Considering Waters’ status as a self-proclaimed purveyor of bad taste, announcing a certain alienation from the art world--the realm of discernment and ‘good taste’--seems appropriate, if not altogether accurate.

In this show (also on view at Gagosian's Bevery Hills gallery) Waters demonstrates that his work as an artist, while best appreciated with knowledge of his pop-saturated films, is able to stand on its own. Many of his signature film-reel-style c-prints of movie stars are here, including a stand-out photomontage of golden-age child actors such as Shirley Temple and a young Elizabeth Taylor with cigarettes--added by Waters--dangling from their mouths (see below). Another film-still collage adds hairlips to the smiles of an adult Elizabeth Taylor, Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and Alfred Hitchcock. In typical Waters fashion, these images simultaneously embody the untouchable glamor of the silver screen, innocence, and the grotesque.

In addition to the prints, large scale sculptures in the tradition of Waters’ Pop-predecessor Claes Oldenberg are placed along the gallery's floor. Near the entrance is a giant replica of a tipped-over bottle of Rush, a sexual stimulant--or "popper"--associated with the urban gay community. At the other end of the gallery sits an oversized sculpture of the high-end face cream Crème de la Mer, a staple of many a grandmother’s medicine cabinet. (Waters himself admits to using both products in his regular routine.)

These sculptures join an assortment of photographs that address the artist's biography, including a childhood photo of Waters with his trademark pencil mustache drawn over his younger self's lip. In another portrait Waters poses as a pilgrim in Provincetown, Rhode Island--a town famed as both a historic colonial village and a gay vacation spot. Taken together, the works in this show (which closes May 2) provide an intimate glimpse into the artist/filmmaker's personal vision of art.

Click here to watch the artist describe his creative process [via Time Out New York]

Watch Waters discuss the show [via the Take Away]:

John Waters' "Children Who Smoke" (2009). ; Courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery