The Fitzrovia Chapel were delighted to celebrate the life and work of renowned performance artist Leigh Bowery in a special exhibition held at the chapel. The chapel is the only remaining building of the Middlesex Hospital, where Leigh died from AIDS on New Year’s Eve 1994.
DATE SHOWN
Leigh is a legendary figure who spans the worlds of art, fashion, dance, club and music. Essentially he himself was the living breathing work of art, his now iconic designs and costumes were ubiquitous and meant for Leigh, as he pushed his body through ever more extreme creations, designed to shock and thrill onlookers from dance floor to gallery. He was also known as one of Lucian Freud’s most famous models, sitting for the renowned painter for several years and becoming close friends, his large naked bald form becoming almost as recognisable as when wearing his own outlandish and ornately decorated costumes and creations.
Leigh died of AIDS on New Year’s Eve 1994, shortly after his last performance at the Freedom Cafe, Soho in November, where people saw for the last time his legendary ‘Birth’ performance where he gave birth to his assistant and close friend Nicola Bateman live on stage, with Freud, Alexander McQueen and his other close friend Sue Tilley all on the front row.
The Fitzrovia Chapel worked with the Leigh Bowery Estate and in particular Nicola, whom he married shortly before his death, to create a stunning but poignant exhibition of Leigh’s costumes, presenting several of his iconic ‘looks’ against the backdrop of the gold mosaic ceiling and marble walls of the chapel. A specially produced short film featured interviews with some of Leigh’s close friends and collaborators including Nicola, Sue Tilley, Boy George, Les Child, Richard Torry, David Holah and Lee Benjamin. Dr Rob Miller, who looked after Leigh when he was at the Middlesex, and who is now a trustee of the chapel, was also interviewed.
Artist Charles Atlas’s film ‘The Legend of Leigh Bowery’ was also screened as part of the exhibition.
OVERVIEW
The Fitzrovia Chapel’s Leigh Bowery exhibition offered a stunning and poignant celebration of one of London’s most legendary performance artists, fashion designers, and club icons. Set against the chapel’s iconic gold mosaic ceiling and marble interior, Bowery’s iconic costumes were displayed as both art and personal expression, highlighting his unique contribution to fashion, performance, and contemporary culture.
The exhibition featured a specially produced short film with interviews from Bowery’s close collaborators, including Nicola Bateman, Sue Tilley, Boy George, and Dr Rob Miller, offering personal insights into his life, performances, and enduring creative influence. Archival footage from Charles Atlas’s The Legend of Leigh Bowery further contextualised Bowery’s impact on art, music, and club culture.
With its combination of extravagant costumes, intimate storytelling, and immersive chapel setting, the exhibition provided a memorable experience for visitors. It offered a rare opportunity to explore Leigh Bowery’s legacy, his fearless creativity, and his transformative influence on London’s art, fashion, and performance scene.
ABOUT
Leigh was one of the most dazzling and fearlessly original creative spirits to emerge from the London avant-garde scene. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he arrived in London in 1980 and almost immediately began transforming himself into a living work of art. His costumes — elaborate, sculptural and utterly unlike anything that had come before — blurred the boundaries between fashion, performance and fine art, challenging every convention of the body and dress.
As the founder of the legendary nightclub Taboo and a muse to the painter Lucien Freud, Bowery became a totemic figure in 1980s and 90s London culture. But it is his extraordinary handmade costumes that endure as his most remarkable legacy — each one a bold, joyful and subversive statement about identity, transformation and the limitless possibilities of self-expression. This exhibition celebrates that singular vision.
