John Waters: Rush June 26, 2010

'Rush' is a brand name for a popular nightclub liquid incense whose effects have been described as being "hit by a percussive thunderbolt." The same can be said for the subjects of Waters' photographs and sculptures that are embraced, attacked, and pushed to extremes under his transgressive gaze. Nothing is sacred as Waters rewrites and redirects imagery, culled from both the classic and despised in movie history, initiating these source materials into his own personal genre of shabbily elevated "art films". Child stars are given bad habits, a youthful self-portrait is transformed a la Dorian Gray, and even the beloved and deceased of the silver screen find themselves lined up for one more startling close-up.