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The Arts Intel Report

Leigh Bowery!

Fergus Greer, Leigh Bowery Session I Look 2, 1988.

Feb 27 – Aug 13, 2025
Bankside, London SE1 9TG, UK

Leigh Bowery’s performances were the stuff of legend. When a reporter asked Boy George about them, the rockstar said that his friend “never ceased to impress or revolt.” An Australian, Bowery moved to hedonistic London in 1980, saying, “I was so itchy to see new things and see the world that I just left.” The capital’s club scene was booming, and Bowery quickly became a fixture, wearing outlandish outfits and running with the artists Gary Barnes and David Walls—they became known as the “Three Kings.” He designed fur coats, opened the infamous club Taboo, and introduced patrons to new drugs like Ecstasy. He later became a model for Lucian Freud. Bowery died of an AIDS-related illness in 1994, at just 33. This exhibition celebrates his legacy of flamboyance. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: © Fergus Greer