"Leigh Bowery Showcase at Tate Modern: 1980s Counterculture, Nightlife, and Subversion"
The much-anticipated exhibition, 'Leigh Bowery!', is now open at Tate Modern, offering a captivating exploration of the life and work of the iconic performance artist, muse, and designer. Running from 27 February to 31 August 2025, this showcase delves into Bowery's impact on the UK cultural landscape.
Leigh Bowery, who hailed from Australia, found his tribe in the New Romantics subculture in London upon arriving in the UK in 1980. The exhibition starts with a focus on Bowery's flat and his early ideas, providing a glimpse into his creative process. John Maybury's film about Bowery, Read Only Memory, 1989, is also included to offer context of the times, marked by Thatcher's Britain, inequity, government-level homophobia, and the AIDS crisis.
The exhibition juxtaposes Freud's paintings of Bowery and his friend Sue Tilley with Bowery's outré performances and the creeping of the commercial world into subculture. Some interpret the enlarged busts, contorting costumes, obscured faces, and highlighted genitals as allusions to the lesions associated with AIDS.
Michael Clark, now a revered figure in the cultural scene, is highlighted in the exhibition for his collaboration with Bowery. The two first met in a club, with Clark commissioning Bowery to create costumes for his performances. Clark's ballets, heavily criticized due to their unconventional nature, gained an edge with Bowery's outlandish costumes.
Nick Knight's photographs and clips from TV classic The Clothes Show are also included in the exhibition. The display features sequins, glittered gimp masks, neck corsets, postcards, personal items, and works by artists like Michael Clark, Boy George, Trojan, Princess Julia, and Charles Atlas.
The party scene centred on Bowery's own club night Taboo, and venues such as The Cha-Cha Club and the famous Blitz Club, was notorious for its alt-glamour, bitchy barbs, and hedonism. The exhibition also features famous faces and nightlife legends like John Galliano, Jalle Bakke, and Marc Vaultier.
Fiontán Moran worked on the exhibition with Bowery's widow and artistic partner Nicole Rainbird, who holds Bowery's estate. This close collaboration ensures an intimate and authentic portrayal of Bowery's life and work.
The exhibition covers Bowery's impact on both mainstream and subculture, looking at his personal life and work through the spaces in which he thrived - the home, the club, the studio, and the street. It also delves into the queer club scene of the 1980s, a time marked by its vibrancy and rebellion.
'Leigh Bowery!' at Tate Modern is a must-visit for anyone interested in the history of art, fashion, and culture of the 1980s. Meanwhile, 'Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London' is at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London until 9 March 2025, offering another perspective on this transformative decade.
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