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Mirror, Mirror Leigh Bowery Artspace Adelaide Festival Centre, 30 Sept - 13 Nov 2004  Living
by the philosophy of "Dress as though your life depends on it, or
don't bother", Leigh Bowery possessed an imposing physical presence
that was to shape his performance career. Born in Sunshine, Victoria,
Bowery relocated to London in the early 1980's where he was to make
impact on the club scene with his elaborate and theatrical performances.
Known as a fashion designer, dancer, performer, actor, muse, or the
sizable man whom Lucian Freud painted, Bowery is considered by some
to be the single most influential Australian in British visual art
and culture for the last 20 years. Using fashion as a means to distort and manipulate his body image, Bowery's subject was himself. Possessing a zealous desire to dress to excess, he addressed themes of difference and conformity. Perceptions of body image and the gay stereotype were challenged with his "freak" like performances. Bowery mingled with celebrities and images of the artist with the rich and famous appeared in the UK style magazines he had previously idolized. He became what Boy George considered "modern art on legs". It was in 1988, the year of the infamous Freeze exhibition, that Bowery first made his foray into the art world with a five-day installation performance at Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London. It is this performance that is reputed to have validated his practice and gained him credibility within art circles. From 4-6pm each day, Bowery dressed in a different costume and behind a one-way mirror dividing the gallery posed and analysed himself in the reflection of the glass. Scents of banana or marsh-mellow were wafted around the gallery, while sounds of traffic played in the background. The video recordings, Polaroid snap shots, large-scale studio photographs, accessories, official documents and the elaborate costumes created for this form the basis of 'Mirror Mirror'. It is the actual costumes, suspended in the centre of the gallery, that are brought to immediate attention. Made using among other things, sequins, fake fur, feathers and everyday objects they are loud in colour and substance. There is a familiarity to the green, Victorian-style gingham dress, to the long fur jacket and a lustrous red cape. Although not quite Vivianne Westwood, traditional fashion histories are referenced, then distorted and accessorized in amusing and shocking ways. For example, the purple sequined helmet looks as though it could have come from the wardrobe department of an early sci-fi film. Yet, standing dormant without their animator, they have that air of museum display, lifeless despite their visual power, half complete. Bowery's absence from the orange spotted blue 'suit' with its bloomer like trousers in particular is notable, for the spots originally spread from the fabric onto his flesh like a radiant disease. It is the large colour photographs and the video recordings of the performances that are the key to the entire exhibition. The deliberate, considered and often slow movements by Bowery on and around the chaise-lounge, (also exhibited) give context to the exhibited costume designs. All at once fun, sophisticated and possibly ridiculous, the distinctions between the genuine and the artifice blurred. A touch of Cindy Sherman meets Paul McCarthy perhaps. Bowery was said to have influenced a whole new generation of artists with this inventive use of ordinary materials. His performance at d'Offay in particular brought Bowery to the attention of several now well-known figures. An entire succession of YBA's cite his influence. Darren Almond, Cerith Wyn Evans, Damien Hirst, Martin Creed and Sarah Lucas have all been named in association countless times previously. And of course there is Lucian Freud who notoriously fleshed out Bowery's naked body, as opposed to a heavily disguised one. Plastered across the walls of Artspace are copies of hand written diary entries. There is a dichotomy between the striking corporeality of the Leigh Bowery image and the sprawling, honest and rambling text. The disguise is lifted to reveal an intimacy. Anxieties, a brief unsatisfactory sexual encounter, lists of daily purchases, rough sketches and even recipes are divulged. In addition to celebrating the Anthony d'Offay performance, this exhibition seems to be in part a biographical retrospective. Like a chameleon, Bowery changed his faŤade countless times. Appearance can be defined by the most recent image, whereas an identity is sourced from an entire sequence. Bowery's sequence was certainly distinctive, and one that he seemed to continually grapple with and delight in. 'Mirror, Mirror' requires careful consideration of both visual and text based information. Devoting the time uncovers the extraordinary multiple facets to Leigh Bowery as an artist, designer, person and performer, an exhibition to cause an appreciative wry smile.  |
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