Paul Burston

Leigh Bowery © Werner Pawlok This week, at wonderfully camp boozer The Glory in Hackney, Londoners will pay tribute to a man whose all-too-brief life continues to influence the way we think about gender, performance, drag and the art of dressing up for a night out. Leigh Bowery influenced everyone from Lady Gaga to Grayson Perry, Alexander McQueen to Lucien Freud. The event, organised by Amy Grimehouse and Bowery's friend Sue Tilley, is called 'The Legend of Leigh Bowery'. So, what made him a legend? Allow this Time Out piece, published in appreciation of Leigh shortly after his death on New Year’s Eve 1994, to bring you up to speed…   Picture this. A man is propped against the bar at a London nightspot, suffering the effects of one too many party pills. Looking around, his eyes focus on a colourful being (probably male, though he can’t be sure) parading towards him. Our hapless party animal turns to the nearest friendly face, waves in the general direction of the apparition and pleads: ‘Tell me you can see that too!’ Leigh Bowery had that effect on people. Born in 1961 and raised in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, Bowery moved to London in 1980, drawn by tantalising images of the post-punk club scene. He arrived as the New Romantics were taking up residence at venues like the Blitz. One of his first gigs was working on the video for Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’. It wasn’t long before he left his own heroes in the shade. Bowery’s passion for provocation took many forms. In the