Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery’s life seems to have been an extended performance art piece. After leaving his home in Sunshine, Australia in 1980 for London, Bowery made a name for himself by assembling original and outlandish costumes for his own use as well as others', including Michael Clark’s ballet company. He was a large man, and exaggerated his stature with body paint, platform shoes and body piercings. His nightclub ‘Taboo’ was part of the new romantics club scene of the 1980s that is perhaps most widely known from the fame of Boy George. In 1988, Bowery had a week-long show at the gallery of Anthony d’Offay where he himself was the object of art, donning different outfits and examining himself behind a two-way mirror which separated him from onlookers. In 1993, Bowery formed an art/rock/punk band called Minty with Richard Torry, Nicola Bateman and Matthew Glammore. His persona became known to a wider audience when he sat for a series of nude portraits by artist Lucian Freud. Bowery married Nicola Bateman in May of 1994, a few months before dying from an AIDS-related illness. The Broadway musical Taboo, produced by Rosie O’Donnell and starring Boy George, is based in part on Bowery’s life.
