John Waters to flood Walker Art Center's galleries with tacky weirdness

Photo by Greg Gorman

As if the splotchy plaid jacket and signature mustache weren't enough, John Waters will bring Pig Latin, car crashes, junk food photos and financial detritus to Walker Art Center this summer when he will tweak the museum's long-running "Event Horizon" exhibition.

Waters' contribution, dubbed a "devious intervention," will insert 60 new whatnots from the Walker's collection into the "EH" show along with stuff on loan from other collections and some of his own concoctions. He sees his role as that of an "Absentee Landlord," which is what he's calling the enterprise. Accordingly he's thinking of the Walker's galleries as apartments in which "artworks coexist like roommates, with relationships that range from belligerent to friendly, from supportive to indifferent."

Naturally there will be mayhem elsewhere too, including a soundtrack, available via cell phone, in which he will natter on in Pig Latin about the art. An "audio installation" will infuse the Walker's garage with sounds of car crashes and squealing tires. And in the spirit of full disclosure, he intends to set up a nice little showcase full of financial records for the exhibit, right down to the last invoice, shipping record and check stub.

Fans can also buy, at the Walker's Garden Cafe, his "limited-edition photograph of beautifully-plated but inedible food refuse like meat gristle and the ends of carrots." Gluttons for punishment are also invited to partake of "This Filthy World," a quasi-autobiographical monologue that Waters will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10. Gallery admission is $10; tickets to the "Filthy" performance are $45 starting May 10 (or May 3 to Walker members). 612-375-7600 or www.walkerart.org/tickets.