The Dirty Show In Review - by Ericca M.

I had the pleasure of attending the Dirty Show on the final night of the exhibition. It was not at all what I expected it to be...it actually exceeded my expectations.

I hit the city of Detroit with my sister, who was just as excited as I was to be attending the show. The nice part about parking was that they had a shuttle there to escort patrons who were forced to park far away, to the front door. Once I retrieved my press pass, my sister purchased her ticket and we headed
inside. We were greeted by beautiful women in sexy costumes who were more than willing to be photographed to be featured in Friction. The environment had a real art gallery feel, which we were definitely into. There were paintings and photographs all over the walls by different artists. Most of them contained imagery in which a penis is penetrating a vagina, and the sculpture pieces were very unique.

'The Genesis Plant' by Karl Robert Denton

One sculpture in particular was ‘The Genesis Plant’ by Karl Robert Denton. The piece consisted of a vine with the head of a penis on the end and a rosebud in the shape of a vagina. Both parts were facing each other as if penetration was about to begin. He explained to us that the idea behind his piece is trying to explain where the first human came from. He tied in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which made the piece even more compelling.

Another highlight of the evening was the Burlesque Show. Various dancers took the stage and delivered amazing performances. The stand out performance had to be the three African-American gentlemen who performed with chairs and water bottles, as they simulated sexual acts. The women, as well as some of the men, went crazy. At the end of their performance, they received the biggest standing ovation of the evening.

There was also a gift shop open throughout the evening for patrons who wanted to purchase Dirty Show gear. My sister and I were also able to enjoy drinks from the bar, which was also open throughout the evening.

All in all, attending the Dirty Show proved to be a very good time. We met some interesting people, some very talented artists and created memories that we can talk about from here on out. We’ve already made plans to attend next years show and I hope we’ll see you there!