Leigh Bowery was an openly gay, open minded, beautiful spirit with shocking ideas. He used fashion to emanate his love for the female. He was part of the the club kid generation. They wore outrageous makeup and audacious clothing. He would go to a club dressed up in these outfits to make the biggest impression on the crowd as possible. Standing out was the philosophy of this group. Bowery wanted to be, and loved being noticed by everyone. When he entered the club Taboo people welcomed him with open arms. Using a range of materials to create his fashion clothes he took away the idea of prejudices. Acceptance of the skin you were born into was something he valued. He wanted people to look at him and not judge him for the way he dressed. Hiding himself, he embodied many types of people through his costumes and make up. A prostitute, a drag queen, an indian, whatever he felt that night he wore proudly. All his own designs. He was practically famous in the scene of night life. He was an 80s fashion designer. He impersonated gods and goddesses, animals, children, women. He had a strong passion for the human body and its form. He liked to wear multiple parts and wanted everyone to accept who they were as a person because everyone is originally different.
Leigh Bowery was infected with HIV and kept it a secret. The disease caused him to form red lesion spots on his neck. To cover them up Leigh put spotted makeup over his face and body to hide the identity of the HIV. In a way, he understood his fate yet was not afraid to show it to the public through art. Yet, in reality no one knew he had the virus but at the same time would proudly wear his spots in the form of art to the public.
Leigh Bowery was also a performance artist. He studied fashion at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology fLeigh Bowery
http://www.leighbowery.net/xtravaganza/articles.php?lng=en&pg=74
No comments:
Post a Comment