Barr: Back in Town

They're playing coy over at the Flip Salon in Ferndale, but the gist of the info we received indicates that our favorite Detroit painter Glenn Barr will have selected pieces on display there starting 2/26. What we've written over the years about Barr should be inducement enough, but we've also been told that wine and tidbits will be provided for the occasion. And honey, that bleach job could really use a tune-up as well. Teaser: Barr might be doing something in RO next month. Watch this space – and go to THIS space THIS month: 251 W. 9 Mile.

ME: "Should we go? SHE: "Hell, yeah!"

It appears that a bit of matchmaking (sort of) occurred at The Butcher's Daughter recently, and the happy results of these equally happy pairings are currently on view. Me/We is a project and group show with eight Detroit artists submitting collaborative works in photography, painting, ceramics, drawing and video. Each duo fashioned a joint piece together; that work, in turn, was used as the starting inspiration for separate artworks done in solo fashion. Opening reception is 2/26. 22747 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale.

Happy Ending, Fruitful Beginning

We are going to elaborate further on this matter in the days ahead, but be advised that among the many satisfying discoveries made at last week's Dirty Show was our learning that photographer Bridgett Davenport Ritz took precious time away from her own work to edit a superb anthology. Visions of Eros: A Midwest Perspective is almost definitive in its overview of the many individuals who are presently taking erotic photography to the highest level of aesthetic beauty and daring. A number of them are local including Chris Maher, Lisolette Gilcrest, DVS, A. Owen Layne, VATO and Studio-X. More info: visionsoferos.com.

Erotic Avenue

Be advised that the 24th Erotic Poetry & Music Festival is filling its quiver and tuning its amplified lyres for a 2/26 rendezvous at Corktown Tavern. One of the oldest art events in the city this celebration of carnality has one of the most impressive rosters we've seen with names both familiar and new. Satori and Hayley Jane will be there; as will Jimmy Doom, Chris Dellas, Audra Kubat, Abida Blaze and a host of others. Hosted by Peter Schorn and The Impaler – partial proceeds from the show will benefit Paws With a Cause. $8 at 1716 Michigan Ave., 8:30 p.m.-11 p.m.

Toxophily Teasing Continues ...

Perhaps it was just the fetching and recumbent form of a latex-clad Sara Phoenix on a poster that arrested our attention that afternoon, but the pleasing visual did do the trick nicely and we absorbed all the information quickly. On 2/26, Noir Leather will set in motion Fetish Frenzy, a delicious demimonde buffet at the I Rock Nightclub, which will undoubtedly bring into sharper focus certain poems by Swinburne and any number of sub-textual allusions found in the works of Foucault. Oh, and Lushes LaMoan will be there as well! More: noirleather.com.

A Theatrical Omnibus – Fill Those Seats!

Who Wants Cake? has dusted off Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, a work that was the company's first production at Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre four years ago. Those familiar with the Douglas/Close cautionary tale about yuppie philandering will be delighted at how the plot is accorded twists both cathartic and comedic on this occasion. And yes, they boil the bunny. Those familiar with Ken Burns and/or 19th-century American history will undoubtedly be drawn to Meadow Brook's ongoing Reunion: A Musical Epic in Miniature. The Civil War is here recounted twenty-five years after Appomattox by a repertory company speaking the prose and singing the songs of that crucial conflict. Bruce Catton himself would have approved. More: mbtheatre.com. And PLEASE do not let the month end without buying a ticket to see Dance of the Seven Veils, a remarkable ensemble effort by the New Theatre Project in Ann Arbor. Based and structured on an earlier play by Charles L. Mee, this odyssey of voices uses the real life experiences and actual words of sex workers to create a masterpiece of dramatic irony. More: thenewtheatreproject.com. And as long as we're in the pleading mode – PLEASE see Yankee Tavern at the Furniture Factory in Detroit or at Mackenzie Hall in Windsor when Breathe Art Theatre moves it there. Playwright Steven Dietz takes post-Ground Zero conspiracy theory and effectively uses it as a template for the emotional vacuum we dwell in today. And maybe Ray does have a right answer or two about ... no, that was just good acting! 4126 Third St. 248.982.4121. | RDW