Leigh Bowery was an Australian artist born in 1961, and who, by the time he was 20, was a promoter and owner of the club Taboo in England. He was a performance artist best known for his large costumes, his flashy makeup, and his influence in the gay nightlife and fashion of Leicester, where the Taboo Club was located. Sue Tilley, his close friend, described him as “6ft 1in and well-fleshed.” She went on to say, “I think there was so much going on inside him that it made him bigger than he was. There was just so much for him to say and think about. He’d always been interested in learning things since he was very young – and getting his ideas out there.” At the club Taboo and various other bars and nightclubs, he was always the most outlandishly, extravagantly dressed. Bowery was known for his lavish facemasks, padded boobs and behinds, and in-your-face makeup. Most of his outfits included fabrics like velvet and tulle, while their patterns ranged from more “tasteful” solids to animal print, which sometimes was painted onto his face. Bowery truly saw his large array of skin as a massive canvas to express himself with. He met Freud in 1988, and became his muse and friend, as Freud would go on to create six separate works of art made depicting Bowery. Upon their first meeting, Tilley remarks “Lucian thought Leigh would want to be painted with one of his outfits on, so I think he was thrilled when Leigh turned up and just stripped naked.” The large man was a sight to behold, and in all the paintings depicting him, he would appear to be akin to Dionysus, lording over the viewer, even if the perspective holds him at eyeline. Throughout the process of these paintings, a timeline that spanned 1988 to 1994, Bowery was HIV positive. Seven months after a performance where he “married” his assistant Nicola Bateman in 1994, Bowery passed away.. His influence lives on, however, as the paintings depicting him are extremely valuable, and his impact on future performance artists, such as George Michael and Lady Gaga, is unchallenged.

 “Behind the Costumes: Lucian Freud’s Representations of Leigh Bowery: MyArtBroker: 

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Naylor, Belinda. “Lucian Freud and Leigh Bowery: Creative Partners in Crime.” The World Of Interiors, THE WORLD OF INTERIORS, 27 Dec. 2024, www.worldofinteriors.com/story/leigh-bowery-and-lucian-freud-creative-partners-in-crime 

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