Underrated.

His use of glitter AND diamond dust is next level.💎👌

Big fan of his work and I do not own any. I will pick up one of his one day.. I think though I just still love all the artists from 2007ish/POW times when I first started collecting and can't get into a lot of the asian cute art or a lot of other works that gets released thesedays..

His design office was in the same building as POW back in the day, I never understood how his then partner Luke Insect didn't make the grade.

Right place right time I guess

NOT. He is massively underrated. I believe if you look at several fo the artists that have come out of that era, his ability to pivot into the fine art world, his diversity in skill media and execution all point to an artist who is likely underrated and undervalued. The glass works in his last show were brilliant. His refusal to pivot into "Merch," such as calleja or kaws or murakami or many of his other contemporaries just prove he is the real deal if you ask me.
S

Love his work; from the color blocking to the the pointillism in the eyes and splashes of color — Really fantastic, bold works. His new paintings appear to have a really nice texture... he doesn't just use diamond and gold glitter, but other techniques that give depth and contrast to his work (from the paint to his frame and canvas choices). All that combined, in my eyes, makes his work really fantastic. Happy to finally add a piece to my collection after admiring for years. With all that said, I think he's underrated. But what do I know :shrug: I wasn't so into his earlier stuff...

I had not seen this before you pointed it out. I see it now though so thanks for pointing it out.

Leigh Bowery was very influential is many areas. Once you know his name you will be surprised in how many places his name comes up.

I first heard about him when reading about NYC clubbing in the 90's. He influenced nightclubs, their entertainment and fashions. He also influenced Madonna, Boy George, Alexander McQueen, Gaultier and many others. Elements from his costumes still pop up in a lot of fashion today. He was also a muse for Freud.

I recall a good few years ago that a well known member on this forum had the Bowery lightbulbs ears image as his avatar. The same image that could have influenced Paul Insect.

We can certainly draw parallels between Leigh Bowery and Paul Insect's current artistic style.

But I've no clue about whether Bowery was actually an inspiration to Insect, because the similarities may also be coincidental.

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Hopefully, many here already know of Leigh Bowery. If anybody doesn't, I would encourage them to put in the time and do some research into this iconic figure.

Regardless of their opinions of Bowery, viewers familiar with his body of work are in stronger positions to identify the influences he had on others in a variety of fields (photography, fashion, performance art, advertising, design, music videos, the nightclub and fetish scenes, etc.).

Conversely, those who lack Bowery as a reference point are placing themselves at a comparative disadvantage — being less-well-equipped to understand the hows and whys of what followed, including in popular culture.



Additional Google search terms: "Club Kids" and the chronologically-preceding "Blitz Kids".

Depending on one's perspective, the above individuals are celebrations of creative imagination, theatricality, flamboyant exhibitionism, hedonism, decadence, and/or navel-gazing narcissism.

I stick get a kick seeing his BABYHEAD paste ups on the streets.