Motor City Rides

Feb 13, 2008 at 12:00 am
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Jerry Vile's Dirty Show is the smutty little art show that could. Since its humble beginnings in 2000, it has hardened into an international event that now fills up Bert's Warehouse Theater in Eastern Market. The show's libido-tickling collection of erotic photography, painting, illustration, "artful" porn and sculpture, guided by Vile's cheeky vision, is Michigan's biggest art show. What was once taboo is now, begrudgingly or not, mainstream.

So it's no surprise that provocateur Jerry Vile (aka Peterson) can be spotted driving dirty art around in the family's 2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser. "Since it is more or less the family car I have to remember to take out the phallic sculptures and landgapes before I return it," the fiftysomething Vile says.

Sure, there's plenty of room for art in the back, but the Cruiser's popularity can be a problem. "You never realize how many silver PT Cruisers there are until you try to find yours in a parking lot," he says. And the car's popularity in another way can be problematic. "This car is a sex magnet," Vile continues, "'cause you don't drive in this car, you PT cruise. Kinda like Al Pacino."

The Dirty Show runs from 4 p.m. to midnight Thursday-Friday, Feb. 14-15, and 6 p.m.-2 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Bert's Warehouse Theater, 2727 Russell St., Detroit.