Wild party, erotic art exhibition The Dirty Show returns to Detroit for 2 weekends
For a quarter of a century, North America's largest erotic art exhibition has enticed visitors from around the world for a party of epic proportions. While it began as a 'happening' in an office above a Royal Oak bump shop, the multimedia event now consistently attracts capacity crowds to its home of recent years, Detroit's 50,000-square-foot Russell Industrial Center.
With over 300 juried paintings, sculptures, photos, films, and other media, immersive installations, raucous stage performances, and live demonstrations, Dirty remains a provocative, exciting, and inclusive place for attendees to explore and interact.
In honor of its 'smut-tacular' Silver Jubilee, the event will celebrate by presenting work from all of its past headliner artists in an ensemble event, which includes contributions from artists such as John Waters, H.R. Giger, Niagara, Clive Barker, Glenn Barr, Bunny Yeager, and more.
Other attractions include the Chappell Roan-inspired Pink Pony Club, which will transform into disco-era leather bar The Daddyhole during the second weekend; the Cinerotic Film Festival, which channels the vintage 'art house' erotic film experience; Japanese shibari binding/rope play; and numerous burlesque, striptease and sex-centric performers.
'You see a lot of happy faces here,' said Dirty Show founder and organizer Jerry Vile. 'It's awesome, a room full of happy people. Part of that is that your brain releases dopamine when your eyes connect with anything erotic; when you have over 300 pieces of erotic art, a lot of those are going to release dopamine. And then, we have skimpy-dressed stage performers, go-go dancers in cages, and above all, the patrons themselves – lucky for us.
'Patrons of The Dirty Show like to let their freak flags fly, and walk around in leather, rubber, drag, whatever they're into. It's one safe space for them to publicly reveal their inner kink. It's fun.'
More: The Dirty Show, America's largest erotic art exhibition, returns to Detroit for wild fun
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As an example, Vile referenced perhaps the Show's most famous (or infamous?) annual attendee, fetish model Foxy Menagerie Verre – who sports the largest breast implants in North America and one of the biggest implanted pairs in the world.
'Foxy doesn't do anything onstage, but just to have her show up as a person walking through our door, instead of seeing a picture of her on the internet and trying to get her to appear, is priceless. Anybody who sees that is going to have some kind of opinion. You know, I don't think she can even drive? There's a lot of exhibitionism in our crowd, but I think she might be the most extreme example of a Dirty Show patron.'
Verre said she spends all year waiting for the event to come back around.
'I always plan out what I'm going to wear for each one, because it's one of the events that I really look forward to,' she told the Free Press. 'I have something custom-made for it by a guy in Turkey, and it's a big deal for me to be able to see everyone there. I love seeing the different people when I go, and I always love catching up with Jerry Vile. He's a sweetheart. And I also love seeing the artists' work and touching base with them.
'Each year, they do different events, different games, have different booths set up. So you never really know what changes are going to be made, or what to expect. It's one show that always keeps you on your toes.'
The Dirty Show runs from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14 and 15, and Feb. 21 and 22. Tickets are $50 in advance and can be purchased at dirtyshow.org. Ages 21 and up only. The event takes place at the Russell Exhibition Center, 1600 Clay St., Detroit.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wild party, erotic art exhibition The Dirty Show returns to Detroit
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