John Waters made his first film six decades ago, and the world still hasn’t caught up to him. Along with a group of accomplices known as the Dreamlanders—first, fellow Baltimorians costume designer Van Smith, casting director Pat Moran, and stars like Divine, Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller and, later, worldly icons like Patricia Hearst and Kathleen Turner—Waters made new worlds in his own image. From the period realness of Polyester to the fantasy fever dream of Desperate Living, Waters’ worlds are camp landscapes where vicious empathy and heartfelt filth breed queer heroes. He has also embraced other roles: fine artist, memoirist, film critic, and fairy godfather to generations of troublemakers.

A pair of strikes has put his current film work on hold, but the institutionalization of John Waters is only speeding up. Following a 2014 film series at Lincoln Center and a 2018 fine art survey at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has just opened what it considers to be the first comprehensive exhibition of his moviemaking, “John Waters: Pope of Trash.” The retrospective includes new restoration of those early short films; never-exhibited props, like Debbie Harry’s exploding Hairspray wig and Kathleen Turner’s murderous leg of lamb from Serial Mom; and recreations of iconic sets, including the Pink Flamingo trailer HQ for the filthiest people alive.

John Waters recently spoke with Surface to chat about the show, brown furniture, and the importance of being nervous.

Let’s start at the beginning, with you and production designer Vincent Peranio. How did you first begin thinking through what your aesthetics might be?

The first thing Vincent did for me was Lobstora, the lobster who [attacks] Divine in Multiple Maniacs. He’s in it, you can see his legs sticking out of it. Pink Flamingos was the first movie where he did the whole thing. We really celebrated postmodernism. It wasn’t called that. It was stuff that nobody wanted, for a nickel at a thrift shop. His mantra would be “make a dollar holler.”

How did you make decisions around what was trash that excited you, and what was trash that would sort of do the trick?

Vincent grew up in blue-collar Baltimore, so he really knew the settings of both Cry Baby and Hairspray. They had to be period correct. Serial Mom had to be suburban, like Towson near where I grew up. Each movie had a look of that niche period—even fantasy stuff, like in A Dirty Shame where all the shrubbery turned into hard-ons and vaginas. He knew how to use my sense of humor and translate it very well into production design. The sets are just as much a part of the humor as the dialogue.

Did you think of movies like Female Trouble as realism?

They were stylized in our version of what was funny about bad taste. I’ve said that Trump ruined bad taste. Those Christmas decorations on the White House were the worst ever, but they weren’t funny. We were raised on what’s now hated by young people. The antiques in my house that my parents left me are worthless now. If I would make a movie now, I would think about how people hate brown furniture. The next generation has to make fun of what I think is good taste. Find the worst stuff in the thrift shop and put that on. That’s the new style.

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Eileen Gray’s investigations into rigor and space are now classics. Designers keep circling back, for example, to the tubular frame and arcs of glass comprising her E-1027 table, while the Modernist house by the same name which she built in Cabanon, France, was finally restored with the respect it deserves by the Association Cap Moderne and reopened in 2021. Her extensive career as a painter is less well-known, but Aram hopes to restore that reputation as well. They’ve looked to Gray’s gouaches and collages as inspiration for four new rugs made in collaboration with ClassiCon.

Monolith and De Stijl, the latter including a bold blue circular nod to the famed Dutch school, deepen our understanding of Gray’s geometrical expertise with their crisp lines and elegant restraint. La Lune and Cassis explore rich shades of burgundies that feel particularly relevant today. Each rug is 100 percent virgin New Zealand wool, made by hand by Nepalese artisans in collaboration with the nonprofit Label STEP. Aram will have them on display as part of this year’s London Design Festival, installed in concert with some of the furnishings that rightfully have made Gray an icon.

In time for this year’s London Design Festival, the Australian ceramics brand Mud has opened a shop on London’s tony Marylebone Lane. Melbourne’s DesignOffice conceived the new digs, its second in London and tenth overall, as an airy showcase for Mud’s signature porcelain, which take pride of place within Vitsœ shelving and atop a Poul Kjaerholm PK54 table by Fritz Hansen.

But a new home deserves new designs, and so Mud has introduced a celebratory lighting collection. A single piece of handmade porcelain forms the portable Pop LED lamp, while a trio come together for the Flared Table Lamp, which nestles its light source in its base. Flared is also offered as a cantilevering floor lamp with accents in brushed stainless steel. Charming colorways for each include Blossom, Dust, and Slate, with additional options for Pop.

Our weekly scoop on industry players moving onwards and upwards.

Superblue, the experiential art enterprise founded by Pace president Marc Glimcher, has announced leadership shakeups as it ventures into a new phase of growth that includes opening new hubs in cities around the world and strengthening artist and gallery partnerships. Marc Spiegler, the former director of Art Basel, has joined the company’s board of directors; he departed the fair this past October after launching new editions in Hong Kong and Paris. Superblue co-founder Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst will assume the role of chief creative officer and Daniel Dolan was appointed CEO to oversee operations and growth.

In fashion leadership news, Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton announced she will exit her role after two decades at the British house. The Spring/Summer 2024 runway show, launching at Paris Fashion Week on September 30, will mark the conclusion of her 13-year tenure in her current role, which began shortly after McQueen’s death in 2010. Across the pond, New York accessories brand Mansur Gavriel named former Thakoon executive Maria Borromeo as CEO.

After more than half a century hidden in New York University’s arts and science building on Washington Square, the Grey Art Gallery is moving to a larger space on Cooper Square and rebranding as the Grey Art Museum. It plans to reopen on March 2 with an exhibition about artists working in postwar France. Stuart Shave’s Modern Art gallery, which currently has two locations in London’s Helmet Row and St. James’s, plans to open an outpost in Paris next month. The new space will be located on the second floor of a Hausmann-style building in the eighth arrondissement, close to the Palais de Tokyo and the soon-to-open Hauser & Wirth.

When: Until Oct. 21

Where: Borgovico33, Como, Italy

What: Kicking off the converted 17th-century church’s Autumn satellite program are two series of photographs encapsulating Sachs’ interest in materiality and injecting life into domestic objects. In one series, he reveals the mysterious alter egos lying dormant within a piece of string, a percussion instrument, and a toilet paper roll. Keen on incorporating chance in the way he uses light sources and moves his camera, Sachs finds freedom in unusual visual effects verging on the surreal.

The interiors firm Argyle Design recently hosted an intimate dinner to celebrate Southern Guild’s expansion to the United States. A stalwart within South Africa’s fine art and collectible design sphere, the Cape Town–based gallery recently announced it will open a new location in Hollywood next year. To celebrate the new beginnings, Argyle co-founders Kat Bell and James Drew—along with Southern Guild’s founders Trevyn and Julian McGowan—hosted an evening soirée at the former’s residence, where guests enjoyed food by pop-up dinner series Eclair founder Alex Bolar.

When was it? Aug. 31

Where was it? Los Angeles

Who was there? Nikolai Haas, Djuna Bel-Rowe, Mark Quinn, Jacqueline Rabun, Mary Ping, Richard Petit, Akua Shabaka, and more.

Carl Hansen & Søn believes that iconic design is a combination of simplicity, aesthetics, and functionality brought to life through skillful work with the highest-quality materials. For more than 100 years, the Danish brand has specialized in providing outstanding furniture craftsmanship that brings visionary design concepts to life.

Surface Says: A master of timeless design, Carl Hansen & Søn always knows how to balance homeyness and modernity.

The once-critically endangered Azores bullfinch seems to be bouncing back.

British pubs experiment with surge pricing, taking all the fun out of drinking.

Does America have a private beach problems? The Atlantic investigates.

VTC Tank Man, a new serif typeface, honors protesters at Tiananmen Square.