NewsVoicesArts & EntertainmentCrimeEducationHealthLove & SexPeoplePoliticsSports
    OUTPrideOut TravelerPLUSADVOCATE CHANNEL
    Support UsSubscribeSubscriber ServicesEmail Newsletter Signup
    CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
    © 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
    All Rights reserved
    Advocate.comAdvocate.com

    The Creepy Clowns of the 45th Administration (Photos)

    Christopher Harrity
    10/12/17
    xtyfr
    Scroll To Top

    By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

    Accept

    Both Meryl Meisler's current color photos of the Greatest Show on Earth and her black-and-white reinterpretations are included in this gallery. Read more below.

    Sassy Circus & Creepy Clowns
      

    Meryl Meisler photographed the Greatest Show on Earth in 1977, when the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus came to New York City. Some of these photos landed in Purgatory & Paradise SASSY '70s Suburbia & The City, which we covered in a gallery here.

    Four decades years later, in May of this year, Meryl once again had the opportunity to photograph the circus and the performers up close, for the Greatest Show on Earth's farewell performance of "Out of This World."

    As Meryl looked at the photos from that last day she mused, "Every day seems like a chaotic circus of deceitful distraction, hateful, divisive 'un-American' actions, with creepy clowns running our nation amok." And so she was inspired to reinterpret some of her 1977 photos to illustrate those feelings and poke some fun at the current administration.

    Meryl says, "These clowns literally give me the creeps. The Greatest Show on Earth has ended. An administration claiming to 'Make America Great Again' is turning our society backward to darkest times." Beware and resist the creepy clowns! November 7, 2017, is Election Day. Vote!

    A special exhibit of Meryl's reinterpretations, "Sassy Circus & Creepy Clowns," will be on view at Bizarre Black Box Gallery, 12 Jefferson St., Brooklyn, through November 22.

    xtyfr
    close button
    PhotographyDonald TrumpSlideshow
    xtyfr

    More Galleries

    The incomparable Lady Bunny and her unnamed date
    Drag

    Drag Me to the Catskills: A weekend of camp and comedy in the woods

    May 29 2025 8:30 PM
    Boys! Boys! Boys! podcast: A new voice in queer culture
    Art

    Boys! Boys! Boys! podcast: A new voice in queer culture

    May 01 2025 5:03 PM
    Cobblestones, castles, and culture: Your LGBTQ+ guide to Edinburgh
    Travel

    Cobblestones, castles, and culture: Your LGBTQ+ guide to Edinburgh

    April 30 2025 12:44 PM
    French Polynesia: LGBTQ+ inclusivity beyond expectations
    Travel

    No Pride flags needed in French Polynesia

    April 07 2025 11:16 AM
    Karan Soni stars in "A Nice Indian Boy," in theaters starting April 4
    film

    Out and About with Karan Soni

    April 04 2025 8:00 AM
    Edie © Jane Hilton; Justin Anz, Ranch Hand, Olney, Texas © Jane Hilton; Mirage © Jane Hilton; Pate Meinzer, Cowboy, Benjamin, Texas © Jane Hilton
    Photography

    Jane Hilton's 'Cowboys & Queens' captures the modern American dream

    March 28 2025 6:27 PM

    Christopher Harrity

    Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
    Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
    Read Full Bio