Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern review

“Dress as if your life depends on it or don’t bother”

- Leigh Bowery

The Tate Modern has thrown open its doors to what is likely to be their most flamboyant exhibition of the year. If like me, you knew nothing about Leigh Bowery, we are not alone. Unlike many artists who gained mainstream recognition in his lifetime Bowery was more of a cult figure - an underground icon who existed on the fringes of art, fashion and nightlife. A curation of costumes, photographs, paintings and films unfold as you meander the rooms of the Tate Modern showcasing an eccentric life, lived large, bold and with a desire to shock and push boundaries. Bowery (1961-1994) packed more into his brief life than most would manage in two lifetimes. He passed away from an AIDS-related illness in 1994, at the age of just 33.

 Installation Photography © Tate Photography (Larina Annora Fernandes).

Born in Sunshine, Melbourne, Australia, Bowery left his quiet suburban life and arrived in London in 1980 at the age of nineteen, eyes wide open. No longer limited by convention, his creativity exploded onto the London scene, challenging norms of aesthetics, sexuality, and gender. This exhibition is not for the faint-hearted, but it seems timely, calling for open minds in a moment when gender diversity is under threat, and hyper-conservatism and a shift to the right seem to encroach upon our lives.

As a designer he believed things should be larger than life and his personality certainly was. He was a performance artist, club promoter, fashion designer and a walking provocation who became a linchpin of London’s 1980 underground scene. From what is on display there is no doubt that when he entered a room, he would draw attention as he turned his own body into a moving, breathing canvas, wearing bold conceptual pieces which defied practicality. Human curiosity meant people would gravitate towards him, leading to interesting collaborations and inspiring other artists. As a result, this exhibition includes abundant information about Bowery’s friends and the creative community at the time with well-known names such as Tony Marnach (aka DJ Fat Tony), George Michael, choreographer, Michael Clark, and Boy George for whom he designed costumes. All are drawn into the narrative. 

Polaroid portrait of Leigh Bowery 1986 © Peter Paul Hartnett / Camera Press.

The curators have wisely chosen to eschew a traditional chronological approach. Instead, each room is based around a space that defined Bowery’s life - home, club, stage, and street. The exhibition begins with a room centred around his first home, a council flat in East London that he shared with close friend Trojan, also a visual artist and well-known fashion icon whom Bowery dressed in his creations. Their flat was deliberately garish with Star Trek wallpaper which covers the walls of the first room in the exhibition, also lined with a rack of his designs. The exhibit includes over 20 intricate costumes he designed and hand crafted, many of them in collaboration with Nicola Rainbird, who later became his wife. Nicola, now director and owner of the Estate of Leigh Bowery, has loaned many of the garments, his diary, postcards written to her and friends and other personal items for display. Bowery considered their marriage as a performance art, though the decision was partly due to fear he might be deported as he’d been arrested for having sex in a public toilet at a Liverpool Street Station.

 Installation Photography © Tate Photography (Larina Annora Fernandes).

The next section is a love letter to London’s underground club scene with music and flashing lights. The 1980s marked the height of club culture - before social media, when invitations were either hand-made or passed by word-of-mouth. It was nostalgic to see typed club guest lists, a reminder of the days when people tried to blag their way into clubs, club night flyers, and his grade five piano certificate (he later went on to form a band “Minty” in the nineties). The room is marked by some of his most iconic pieces atop a catwalk like platform. Gimp like costumes, corsets, polka dots, metallic fabrics,  latex, an abundance of sequins and the use of ordinary objects like safety pins, bobby pins and zippers blurred the line between fashion, performance art and costumes.

Bowery didn’t find his people immediately. In 1981, a chance encounter with drag queen Yvette the Conqueror led him to The Cha Cha Club located in the back room of Heaven, the UK's biggest gay nightclub at the time. This opened a new world to him. However, it was only when Bowery, Trojan and designer David Walls went out together wearing Bower's bizarre and extravagant designs that he became a subcultural icon, solidifying his position on the scene.

In 1985 Bowery founded Taboo, an ironically named club where in fact, anything went. Amusingly, badly dressed punters had a mirror held up to them at the door by Mark Vaultier, the notoriously sharp Taboo doorman who asked: Would you let yourself in? A tribute to this is in the room in the form of a large round mirror on the wall asking the question. The nightclub briefly became the epicentre of his outrageous performances and a catwalk for his avant-garde fashion. Though Bowery achieved success as a fashion designer with orders coming in after showing in New York he soon realised that he preferred to design for himself alone.Taboo stayed open for just over a year before it was shut down due to tabloid accusations of drug-taking on the premises.

 Installation Photography © Tate Photography (Larina Annora Fernandes).

Various films in the exhibition show Bowery’s performances in prestigious theatres in the UK and abroad during his artistic journey. Most notably with Michael Clark’s dance company (1986-92), for which he also designed costumes. He also presented a solo living installation at the reputable Anthony d’Offay Gallery (1988) and a collaborative performance (with Mr. Pearl and Nicola (Bateman) at the Serpentine Gallery (1989). Touring with Michael Clark took him to Japan where his fashion resonated especially within Harajuku cultures and club subcultures there and it appears his impact on Japan’s fashion remains evident today.

For those that may have been shocked by what came before in the exhibition you’ll eventually encounter a room showing Bowery as muse to Lucien Freud - less of an assault to the senses. He famously posed as a life model for the acclaimed painter in a series of stark fleshy portraits that strip away the sequins, make up and towering platforms to reveal Bowery in a more vulnerable and human light.

Leigh Bowery at over six feet was already considered tall but visually seeking extremes one suspects he is the originator of the excessively tall platform shoes which probably influenced Vivienne Westwood’s designer shoes, hence giving us the iconic moment of Naomi Campbell tumbling on the catwalk. On display are the clogs inserted into tall boots which he wore hidden under a floor length costume and amongst the Lucien Freud paintings are the tallest platform shoes I have set eyes on.

 Installation Photography © Tate Photography (Larina Annora Fernandes).

However his façade firmly returns in the side room, where you will find images of his most outrageous performance. Bowery himself admitted he may have gone too far during this performance in which he sprayed water from his anus at the front row of an AIDS benefit at The Fridge in Brixton, on Valentine’s Day no less. Not the date night anyone wants to be at! Bowery was briefly banned from the club. Less outrageous but surreal was his notorious ‘birth’ performances in which Bowery strapped Nicola Rainbird to his chest and ‘gave birth’ to her on stage.

Bowery’s legacy extends beyond his outlandish outfits and provocative performances; it lies in the permission he gave others to be ridiculous, fearless, and unapologetically themselves. This exhibition makes clear that his influence can still be seen in everything from runway shows to drag culture and in the work of figures such as Alexander McQueen, Jeffrey Gibson, Anohni, and Lady Gaga and even in contemporary performance art.

Charles Atlas, Still from Mrs Peanut Visits New York 1999 © Charles Atlas. Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

When asked at the exhibition opening what Bowery would have thought of this exhibition his wife replied, “This is his ultimate dream come true. He wanted to be taken seriously as a performance artist. This is exactly what he would have wanted. The Tate has given him his voice.”

Should you go see Leigh Bowery at the Tate? Absolutely. But be warned: you may leave feeling deeply and embarrassingly underdressed. So perhaps, before you leave home, ask yourself Would you let yourself in?

Date:  27 February – 31 August 2025. Location: Tate Modern Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: from £18; free for members; concessions available. Book now.

Review by Natascha Milsom