Leigh Bowery in The Study Room
- Date
- Wednesday 26 Feb 2025
To celebrate the launch of the Leigh Bowery exhibition at the Tate Modern, LADA has compiled a selection of rare archival documentation and related resources that live in our Study Room collection, including the film ‘Live Culture / Leigh Bowery at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery’ that features in the exhibition.
Performance artist, fashion designer, club promoter and legendary shape-shifter, Leigh Bowery constantly pushed against the boundaries of art and performance. His work stands as a playful, decadent and unruly challenge to sexuality and gender norms, employing a postmodern sensibility of excess and fluidity that positions the body as an ever-fluctuating canvas for his ideas. His influence continues to reverberate through performance art, visual art, fashion, drag, music and club culture today.
Below is a collection of items from LADA’s study room which offer some wider context on Leigh Bowery’s work and the influence it continues to hold. If you would like to view this collection of books and video documentation, you can book a slot to visit LADA’s Study Room in Bethnal Green.
MonitorPop 2007, Take a Bowery: The Art and (Larger Than) Life of Leigh Bowery 2003, Leigh Bowery Looks: Photographs by Fergus Greer 1988-1994 2005
Take a Bowery: The art and (larger than) Life of Leigh Bowery
Publication
Exhibition catalogue from Take a Bowery: The art and (larger than) Life of Leigh Bowery, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 2003
Live Culture / Leigh Bowery at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery
Digital File
Film made by Cerith Wyn Evans
Documentation from Bowery’s 1988 performance at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery
The Legend of Leigh Bowery
DVD
Documentary film about Leigh Bowery, directed by Charles Atlas, 2002
Leigh Bowery – The Life and Times of an Icon
Publication
Author: Sue Tilley
A biography and tribute to a colourful unique and larger than life character, written in 1997 by his close friend Sue Tilley
Leigh!
Publication
Artist/Author: Donald Urquhart
A zine created to accompany a 2012 exhibition of Leigh Bowery’s costumes in Vienna called Xtravaganza: Staging Leigh Bowery, by Donald Urquhart a close fried of Leigh Bowery
Club Kids: From Speakeasies to Boombox and Beyond
Publication
Editor: Raven Smith
A visual study and critical analysis of the social trends relating to ‘club culture’ published in 2008
Looks
Publication
Artist/Author: Leigh Bowery
Editor: Fergus Greer
The a book documenting the looks created by Bowery from 1988 to 1994
Queer
Publication
Editor: David J. Getsy
Part of Whitechapel Gallery’s Documents of Contemporary Art series, a collection of anthologies which collect writing on major themes and ideas in contemporary art. This is the first anthology to bring together artist’s writings and conversations about queer practice
Monitorpop, No. 1
DVD
Artist/Author: Various (see content)
A compilation with exclusive interviews (Mark Stewart, Hermann Nitsch, Throbbing Gristle, Matthew Herbert etc.), short films, slide shows and music clips.
Carnivalesque
Publication
Artist/Author: Timothy Hyman, Roger Malbert
Exhibition catalogue from Carnivalesque, a 2000 exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London that celebrated the imagery of Carnival in Western art
The Homosexual
Type: Digital File
Artist/Author: Adrian Howells
Documentation of 1993 performance of Adrian Howells and Leigh Bowery
Banner image credit:
Cerith Wyn Evans, Leigh_Bowery at the Anthony Doffay Gallery, 1988Latest news
Announcing Cat Sheridan as LADA Co-Chair
3 November 2025
The Board of Trustees of the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) are delighted to announce the appointment of Cat Sheridan as Co-Chair, following an international recruitment process.
Read moreLive Art Bookshop: Does what it says on the tin
13 August 2025
We are changing the name of our retail publishing initiative to Live Art Bookshop.
Read moreJoin our Board of Trustees
5 August 2025
We are looking for new Co-Chairs and Trustees to join our Board.
Read moreStock Check Artists
27 June 2025
We are delighted to welcome the Stock Check group that will meet over four evening gatherings at LADA from July to October.
Read moreArtists in Residence Announcement
11 March 2025
LADA welcomes Samra Mayanja, Claudia Palazzo and Symoné as Artists in Residence between April and December 2025.
Read morePathways Home: Poppy Jackson Limited Edition Collection
3 December 2024
Following on from the year-long project Pathways Home, Poppy Jackson will be selling a collection of limited editions and original artworks exclusively through Unbound until May 2025.
Read moreLADA Summer Break
6 August 2024
LADA will be closed 8th-19th August inclusive, the Garrett Centre will not be open to the public and most operations will be paused. From 20th August on, you can book to visit the Study Room via our Eventbrite page.
Read moreA statement from LADA’s outgoing Director Ria Righteous
31 July 2024
‘It is with great pleasure that I bid you farewell as Interim Artistic Director turned Artistic Consultant for the Live Art Development Agency over the last 12 months.”
Read more