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RARE PHOTOS: Leigh bowery | Vintage Vibes

Pope-ally wired! Why Mark E Smith’s maligned Catholic play is getting a reboot

The Fall frontman’s play about a papal plot appalled critics when first staged in 1986, with Leigh Bowery starring as a cardinal. Now Hey! Luciani is back – but does it make any more sense 40 years on?

The Guardian - UK

When Sue Tilley met Lucian Freud, it changed her life. Now a painting of her could fetch $47 million

Sue Tilley was working in an unemployment office when she met artist Lucian Freud

The Independent UK

V&A East Museum architecture review – from ceramics to codpieces, this is a honey-coloured treasure trove of human ingenuity

The second addition to Stratford’s new skyline from architects O’Donnell + Tuomey is a triumph, its bold lines and simple interiors a welcoming home for the art, people and creativity it celebrates

The Guardian - UK

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Belle Époque posters, sex and body art: The most unmissable art exhibitions of 2025

From Belle Époque posters to radical performance art, 2025 delivered exhibitions that pushed boundaries and opened dialogues.

Euronews

Don’t blame Maria Balshaw for Tate’s failings. Its lack of ambition goes much deeper

Tate stresses its departing director has ‘diversified’ the collection, but it has hidden its treasures and let its galleries slide into insulting incoherence – and visitors have voted with their absence

The Guardian - UK

Boy George is creating a 'new version' of Taboo

Boy George said his "next big" project is creating a "new version" of Taboo.

BANG Premier

Violet Chachki: 'Dressing in drag was escapism, therapy... and channelling all of my anger and frustration'

The Met Gala and Grammys heroine on drag, culture wars and Pride

Evening Standard

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Art, Leigh Bowery and the weaponisation of embarrassment

Open up and let the shame in… It will set you free

The Guardian - UK

The Guardian view on 1980s counterculture: back to the future

Editorial: The taboo-breaking stunts of Leigh Bowery and the Face magazine were ahead of their time

The Guardian - UK

Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern: Sprays inspiration over viewers like an enema

4/5 This well-earned retrospective relishes the fabulousness and revulsion of a nightlife icon

Evening Standard

Leigh Bowery! review – the sex, scandal and sprayed enemas of the ultimate exhibitionist

This exhaustive account of the iconic diva and dandy covers all the fashion, drugs, clubs and self-obsession of a life that was short, sleazy and sensational

The Guardian - UK

‘Lucian Freud was thrilled when Leigh Bowery stripped naked’: how a wild club kid became the great painter’s muse

When outrageous clubbers Sue Tilley and Bowery posed for the eminent artist, some of the most spectacular portraits of the century were born. Tilley talks about sex, cash and Bowery’s untimely death

The Guardian - UK

Fashion disruptors, phoney Picassos and St Paul’s goes psychedelic – the week in art

Leigh Bowery and The Face magazine get their eclectic retrospectives while St Paul’s Cathedral becomes an immersive artwork – all in your weekly dispatch

The Guardian - UK

Mescaline visions, Turner’s 250th and Manchester’s dada genius – the week in art

Art-punk surrealist Linder Sterling springs surprises, classic landscapes get a fresh look and Henri Michaux gets high – all in your weekly dispatch

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

‘A living, breathing work of art’: Leigh Bowery by those who knew him best

The performance artist shocked 1980s London with his surreal outfits, outlandish lifestyle and collaborations with Lucian Freud, dancer Michael Clark and others. As a major exhibition opens at Tate Modern, family and friends talk about Bowery’s larger-than-life legacy

Wallpaper

Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Tate Modern’s cultural shapeshifting takes the art prize

We sing the praises of Tate Modern for celebrating the artists that are drawn to other worlds

The Guardian - UK

From Edvard Munch to Central Cee: Observer critics choose their cultural highlights for 2025

From Thom Yorke’s Shakespearean score to 25 years of Tate Modern, Bridget Jones to Leigh Bowery, our writers anticipate the most exciting shows, releases and events of the year

The Guardian - UK

From climate denial to gothic movies to ‘treat culture’ … what to expect in 2025

The new US president will almost certainly bring unpredictability but several themes will dominate the year ahead. Observer writers offer their guide on what lies ahead in politics, film, fashion, sport and more

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The Guardian - UK

Sensual surrealism, Kiefer’s delights and Gehry’s Guggenheim: the best art and architecture shows to visit in 2025

Anselm Kiefer’s homage to Van Gogh, Ithell Colquhoun’s seaside of surrealism and Gilbert & George fill the galleries, while the V&A opens its archives at the illustrious new East Storehouse

The Conversation

Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London celebrates the optimism, hedonism and style of the new romantics

The Fashion and Textile Museum’s new exhibition, Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London, surveys the glamorous and often outrageous fashion, music and clubbing scene in the capital more than 40 years ago. It’s an affectionate and nostalgic celebration of new romantic London and the people who came to define it.

Wallpaper

How Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids defined 1980s subculture with make-up

As Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids of 1980s London are celebrated in a new exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, Isobel Van Dyke explores the hair and make-up looks that defined them

The Guardian - UK

Dressing for the dancefloor: creative explosion behind 80s’ most colourful club

Fashion and Textile Museum exhibition charts how shortlived Taboo and its founder, Leigh Bowery, inspired decade’s fashion

Evening Standard

The wild influence of Leigh Bowery and London subculture club Taboo

As Outlaws opens at the Fashion and Textile Museum, throwing light on the outrageous underbelly of the 1980s avant-garde nightclub and its impresario Leigh Bowery, Dylan Jones recalls the place to be seen

The Guardian - UK

40 outrageous photos that changed fashion, from teenage Kate Moss to Twiggy in a mini and Lady Gaga’s meat dress

Leigh Bowery provoked, Dior’s elegant New Look inspired, Katharine Hamnett’s slogan T-shirts challenged: these are the shots that made the world see clothes differently

Manchester Evening News

‘I’ve pretty much worked at every bar on Canal Street’: How Danny Beard cut their teeth as a drag queen in Manchester’s Gay Village

'I love the vibe of Manchester. People here don’t mind getting the p*** taken out of them. We just get on with life, don’t we?'

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