Marilyn Minter is Anderson Ranch’s 2026 International Artist Honoree. A movie about her work, “Pretty Dirty: The Life and Work of Marilyn Minter,” screens at 6 p.m. today at Aspen Film’s Isis Theater.
Aspen Daily News: If you sat on a plane next to someone and they asked you what you did and you said you were an artist and they asked, ‘What kind of art do you make?’ what would you say?
Marilyn Minter: I would say that I’m a painter and that I use enamel paint. They usually stop asking questions as soon as they hear enamel paint — they don’t have a reference for it.
ADN: You’re receiving this award (2026 International Artist Honoree) as a form of recognition. What advice would you give to a young artist that would put them on a trajectory to be recognized down the road?
MM: Don’t do this unless you have no choice.
ADN: There’s a Robert Maplethorpe exhibit happening in Aspen at the Baldwin Gallery. His work and your work have been exhibited together and compared as being similar representations from different points of view. How do you see your work in relation to his?
MM: Not at all. We both photograph humans.
ADN: It’s been written that Pamela Anderson is your muse? Why her?
MM: She’s not my muse. People are not my muse — culture is. The times we live in are my muse. The only reason people mention Pamela Anderson is because I took off all her makeup and gave her bangs in 2008, very early on. I saw she was an animal rights activist before that was popular. She was a pinup who had a voice.
ADN: A major show of yours and the retrospective film about you that is showing tonight in Aspen is called “Pretty/Dirty.” Why is that the perfect title for your work and career?
MM: I make things that are considered controversial, but I make them so beautiful that you can’t look away. I’m a trojan horse.
ADN: Can you describe the tension between pleasure and shame you’re hoping to evoke in your work?
MM: My work is all about eliminating shame. Why should there be any shame about pleasure? The only way you get rid of shame is by exposing it.
ADN: You’re drawn to the things that are often edited out of glamorous images — sweat, perceived imperfections. What do those things indicate that the glamorous images don’t?
MM: Reality.
ADN: Where do you think fashion is headed in the age of AI?
MM: What does AI have to do with fashion?
ADN: What do you hope people take away from your work?
MM: A willingness to tolerate complexity.
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