Get to the Tate Modern; The World Needs Leigh Bowery’s Unrelenting Fearlessness

 

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

For featured artists and collaborators, the retrospective is a “gift from beyond the grave.”

text by Maisie McDermid

This spring, the Tate Modern will take on the ambitious role of showcasing the rich life of Leigh Bowery— one of the most bold and original artists of the 20th century. While Bowery was many things to many people –artist, performer, club kid, model, TV personality, fashion designer, and musician— his mission of resisting convention always remained the same. 

In Bowery's short but full life, he challenged norms of aesthetics, sexuality, and gender– and wasn’t subtle about it. His lively self-expressions shocked and stuck with those lucky enough to witness his presence. His otherworldly costumes and makeup always pushed the limits of taste and gender. It’s no wonder he named his notorious club night Taboo. In a first of its kind retrospective, Tate Modern will display not only Bowery's outlandish and dazzling costumes but also other works produced by friends and collaborators including paintings by Lucian Freud, photography by Nick Knight, and films by Charles Atlas and John Maybury. 

Charles Atlas, Still from Because We Must 1989 © Charles Atlas. Courtesy Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

The exhibition covers Bowery's arrival in London from Australia in 1980 to his ventures into music with his band, MINTY, near the end of his life in the early ‘90s. Emerging alongside notable figures like Scarlett Cannon, Boy George, and Princess Julia, Bowery had a large impact on London's legendary ‘80s nightlife. Opened in 1985, Taboo was the center of an underground club culture notorious for its hedonism and New Romantic decadence. His dress code for these events: "Dress as though your life depends on it, or don't bother."

Capturing all that Bowery accomplished is no easy feat. "Anyone who has the courage to attempt a show about the work of Leigh Bowery– and within an institution like Tate Modern– deserves all the support we can give them," said Michael Clark, dancer, choreographer, and long-time collaborator of Bowery. However, Clark wonders if they may encounter limitations on what they should display. "Will they show the shawl he painstakingly made for my work in the early ‘90s – a pixelated portrait of Adolf Hitler made from the rags Lucian Freud had used to wipe his brushes clean on? I doubt it. But in situations like this, I try to keep an open mind."

Sofia Vranou, a teaching associate at Queen Mary University of London, penned the first full-length critical exploration of Bowery’s practice in her forthcoming book, Leigh Bowery: Performative Costuming and Living Art. Thirty years after Bowery's death, Vranou believes that his work is more relevant than ever.

Nigel Parry - Photoshoot at home (c) Nigel Parry

"Revisiting Bowery's work is not just about appreciating his artistic innovation but recognizing his legacy as a cultural figure who fought against the very forces that are attempting to reassert rigid definitions of "acceptable" bodies, behaviours, and identities… His commitment to challenging societal norms—whether related to gender, beauty, or traditional roles— can be seen as a sort of resistance that continues to resonate in the face of rising conservatism.”

Visitors will have the opportunity to closely examine his detailed costumes, created in collaboration with Nicola Rainbird, who later became his wife, and corsetier, Mr. Pearl. The bold costumes speak for themselves— a collection of exaggerated shapes, neon patterns, and wildly sewn gems, jewels, and buttons. Photographs by Fergus Greer will demonstrate how Bowery revolutionarily brought these designs to life. Including yet another immersive exhibition attribute, a music and video installation, made especially for the exhibition by filmmaker and resident DJ at Taboo Jeffrey Hinton, will sensually bring viewers into the energetic Taboo scene. 

Leigh Bowery! will also showcase Bowery's boundary-pushing performances. "The role of performer almost certainly gave him the greatest freedom of expression, especially in non-institutional spaces like nightclubs,” said Vranou. “For many years, Bowery was celebrated as a fashion designer. Therefore, I hope the Tate exhibition reestablishes his legacy as a performance artist." 

In 1984, Bowery designed costumes for Michael Clark's dance works, marking the beginning of a long-lasting friendship and collaboration. Within the exhibition, excerpts from Charles Atlas's semi-fictional documentary Hail the New Puritan (1985) and the film Because We Must (1989) represent their unique partnership. Clark himself looks forward to the new life the exhibit will bring to Bowery's works. 

Costume Photography Leigh Bowery Tate Photography

"Leigh's work was made to be seen. I consider the audience to be the ultimate collaborators. The next generation reveals more and more as they are exposed to these existing works in new contexts, spatially and with fresh eyes," said Clark. "So, for the late, great, larger-than-life masterpiece which was Leigh Bowery, this is a most welcome and long overdue gift to us, from Leigh, from beyond the grave."

Leigh Bowery! opens Bowery's life to those curious to explore the complex and creative figure who left a distinct and undeniable mark on contemporary art, club culture, and beyond. 

Bowery’s exhibition will be on display at the Tate Modern from February 27 to August 31, 2025. Tickets are available on the Tate Modern website.

 

Narrated Entirely In Her Own Voice, Sarah Lucas' Happy Gas Exhibition @ Tate Modern In London Is A Must See

 

Sarah Lucas
Bunny, 1997
Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London

 

Since 1990, Sarah Lucas has been creating art that distorts everyday objects to reveal their expressive qualities. In her exhibition, she uses items like bananas, lightbulbs, concrete, fish, a car, tights, chairs, tabloid newspapers, and cigarettes to explore universal questions about human existence, including origins, sex, class, happiness, and mortality. While her work is deeply personal, it also addresses common themes and could relate to anyone. The exhibition goes beyond her association with the 1990s Young British Art scene and offers a comprehensive look at her art over nearly 35 years, featuring self-portraits and her evolution as an artist.

 
 

Lucas challenges artistic conventions through her choice of subjects and materials, often manipulating them with care despite their casual appearance. Her work evokes a mood of grit, shock, and play, frequently touching on themes of sex, smoking, and food, punctuated by both dark and pleasurable elements. Lucas's subversion of social realism exposes the laughable and demeaning aspects of class and gender stereotypes. Her art combines explicit metaphors, unusual body forms, and oversized food to create a magical quality, resulting in a defiant, joyful, and vibrant atmosphere.

Happy Gas By Sarah Lucas is on view through January 14th, at Tate Modern, Bankside, London

Read Our Interview Of Ceri Hand: The Art Mentor Fostering A More Inclusive Art World →

Ceri Hand, Photo by Lorna Milburn

From running a successful commercial art gallery to becoming Associate Director at Simon Lee Gallery and director of programs at Somerset House Trust, London, Ceri Hand, also known as the Artist Mentor, is championing a more holistic support framework for creative practitioners and professionals through her mentoring and coaching services. 

Lara Monro spoke with Hand about how her own experiences in the arts shaped her approach to mentoring and coaching, and why her upbringing instilled a level of responsibility in championing a more inclusive art world.  

Growing up in the Midlands, Hand was introduced to the importance of social justice and the need to support others from a young age. Her mother established and ran women's refuges and her father taught children with learning disabilities. While Hand came from a multi-racial family who combatted racism by achieving great success in business and embracing family, music and dance, she was confronted by the realities of prejudice from a young age. Read more.

Last Chance To Sign Up To Have Your London Airbnb Transformed by Yayoi Kusama

Tate Modern and Airbnb are partnering with world-renowned artist Yayoi Kusama, to transform an Airbnb listing into a living piece of art…and you could be part of it. Airbnb hosts with a private room or entire home located in the Greater London area will have a chance to invite the work of Yayoi Kusama herself into their home, and see their spare bedroom transform into an art installation that will surprise, delight and inspire their guests. This once-in-a-lifetime prize also includes tickets for the winner and a friend to the Tate Modern extension opening party on 16 June 2016. Click here to enter. 

Lance Loud: A Death in An American Family

Lance_Loud_A_Death_in_An_American_Family

In 1973, An American Family was the most controversial and talked-about television program of its era. Anticipating the current deluge of ‘reality TV’ programming by three decades. The program chronicles seven months in the lives of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California. The Louds were selected as an emblematic nuclear family pulled apart by the cultural shifts that marked America’s transition into the 1970s. Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond captured 300 hours of film that were edited to 12 one-hour episodes aired weekly on PBS. The series quickly became a national media event viewed by an audience of 10 million people. The ensuing depictions of divorce, West Coast affluence, and open homosexuality provoked a fervent public debate about the nation’s value system, its attitudes towards family and sexuality. An American Family was among the first television series to transform ‘ordinary people’ into media celebrities. During the series’s second episode, Lance Loud, who had left Santa Barbara to pursue a more bohemian life in Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, became arguably the first openly gay man on American television. On 22 December 2001, aged 50, Loud died of liver failure caused by hepatitis C and HIV co-infection. Having lived his youth onscreen in living rooms across America, several months before his death Loud asked Alan and Susan Raymond to film one final episode in the Loud story up until his death. The resulting documentary, Lance Loud! A Death in An American Family, commemorates the 30th anniversary of the original broadcast and explores Loud’s legacy. On July 4, presented by The Hepatitis C Trust and Tate Modern, celebrates the life of television and underground icon Lance Loud to raise awareness about HIVand hepatitis C co-infection. The screening of An American Family, episode 2 (1973, 60 min) and Lance Loud! A Death in An American Family (2003, 60 min) will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond. Tate Modern, Starr Auditorium, Wednesday July 4, Bankside, London, SE1 9JE

[FILM] Pere Portabella - A Survey

Francisco Rabal and Silvia Pinal in Luis Buñuel's VIRIDIANA.  Credit: Janus Films.  Playing 4/24 - 4/30.

In conjunction to the retrospective of the painter Joan Miró, the Tate Modern in London is showing a survey of films by the Catalan director Pere Portabella. His films, many made alongside his frequent collaborator Luis Buñuel, are distinct, revolutionary testaments to individual freedom and liberty in the ugly face of tyranny–namely General Francisco Franco.  "Portabella's radical experimentation with the limits and conventions of image, sound and genre is echoed in his eloquent critique of state repression and political indifference. His use of structural materialist devices to loosen the bond between image and referent serves to focus the viewer's attention on their role in the political and cultural processes of the circulation of meaning." On view at the Tate Modern until July 31, 2011. www.tate.org.uk

Miró in London

A Star Caresses the Breast of a Negress (Painting Poem) 1938

Joan Miró's works come to London's Tate Modern in the first major retrospective here for nearly 50 years. Renowned as one of the greatest Surrealist painters, filling his paintings with luxuriant colour, Miró worked in a rich variety of styles. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy more than 150 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints from moments across the six decades of his extraordinary career. 14 April – 11 September 2011 www.tate.org