The Sideshow....maybe more the Big Top of local art.

I skipped Urban Nights again this year, but did visit "The Sideshow", put on by the Circus, on Saturday. I really like what this Circus group is doing. There is an edge to their work that reminds me a bit of HATCH up in Detroit. Maybe working more on the Dada/surrealist/outsider art vein. Just really juicy and engaging art at this show....

This fellow had a pretty interesting show at the Convention Center earlier in the year. Art with a political edge, reminds me a bit of the politically engaged art of the Weimar Republic.
There was live entertainment, performance art, but also this rapper, who started out by rapping on Fela, but then also about life in Dayton...this fellow reminded me of Gil Scott-Heron or the Last Poets in his subject matter....topical/message rather than "thug"...

For a quick walkthrough of the Sideshow click here.

Dayton used to be pretty abysmal for art outside of musuems and the performing arts, but that has started to change. This Circus group is really intriguing and is something I would never have expected in Dayton.