Dirty Show 'Offering 51 Shades Of Grey' Through Saturday In Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) - Hundreds of pieces of erotic art, a peep show and a 3-foot-tall stripper are all part of the Dirty Show, getting underway Thursday at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit.

Event organizer Jerry Vile says the Dirty Show has even more to offer than a certain provocative film opening in theaters this Friday.

"We will have all the bondage, that stuff. In fact, I believe we will be offering 51 shades of grey," Vile told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeil. "That last shade's a little darker than dark...it's almost pure black."

Vile said performance art featured during the 16th annual event will include dancers in elevated cages and something called "the wheel of pain."

The Russel's gigantic warehouse will be chock full of sexy art for sale, too. Not all of it, Vile said, is explicit.

"A perfect piece of erotica — it means different things depending on who sees it," Vile said. "It's all innocent images going together to make something that might have a message to different people."

Thousands of people are expected to turn out for the show, which runs through Valentine's Day. Thursday's opening featuring a talk by eccentric movie director John Waters is already sold out.

Is the show too racy for the average Joe? Vile says no — everyone and anyone (18 and up, please!) can go.

"It's just really diverse, fun-loving crowd," he said. "You get full-on kinksters, and lawyers in suits and soccer moms."

[Get complete event information HERE].