The National Gallery of Victoria billed its spectacular Bowery Ball “a celebration of queer performance art, fashion and Leigh Bowery’s legacy as a global queer icon“. What it delivered was a joyous show of Melbourne-esqueness by our marvellous city’s most creative citizens.
Photos: Chrissy Dore Photography
The National Gallery of Victoria’s Bowery Ball was an eye-popping, show-stopping star-spangled night of drag, burlesque, voguing, music and performance art.
Guests riffed on Bowery’s iconic personal style to create their own looks in honour of the legendary designer.
Melbourne-born iconoclast Leigh Bowery was a famed twentieth-century performance artist, fashion designer and nightclub impresario.
He was born in Sunshine in Melbourne’s western suburbs and moved to London in 1980 at the age of 19.
Bowery quickly gained renown in the underground club scene with performances that rejected conventions of identity, gender and sexuality.
In 1985 he opened Taboo nightclub in London’s Leicester Square. While it was not an exclusively queer venue, Taboo attracted a predominantly queer crowd, largely due to Bowery’s interest in experimental fashion and performance.
Bowery’s larger-than-life designs also attracted critical acclaim in the fashion industry and international media.
In 1990, Bowery art directed and appeared in Boy George’s music video Generations of Love. He then went on to form two bands, Raw Sewage with Stella Stein and Sheila Tequila, and Minty with Richard Torry, Nicola Bateman and Matthew Glamorre.
Shortly after his marriage to Nicola Bateman in 1994 Bowery tragically died from AIDS-related complications at the tender age of 33.
But his legacy on in art, fashion and popular culture endures. Designers including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Vivien Westwood referenced his work in various collections and Bowery’s clubbing influence can be seen in cities around the world.
Bowery’s art also echoed in performances at the NGV ball in his honour, by Australia’s most talented contemporary artists, musicians and provocateurs .
Among the performers were Logie-nominated drag diva Art Simone, award-winning burlesque “supervillain” Ruby Slippers, jazz pianist virtuoso Rosie Rai, and the drag king alter-egos of Danni Ray and Keely Windred, Dazza and Keif.
The entire ground floor of NGV International was transformed for the event into a utopia of queer art, music and performance.
The NGV’s Great Hall was the ball’s virtual beating heart with mainstage performances late into the evening including by nightclub host and costumier Bettie Rosé and multi-award-winning sideshow artist Elle Diablo.
The NGV Garden Restaurant became a swanky piano bar, with low tables and chairs creating a space for more intimate performances and storytelling while the Garden Restaurant hosted performances by NAIDOC Pride Award-winner 2Joocee, Krayola and others.
Coinciding with the NGV Triennial, the ambitious large-scale exhibition of contemporary art, design and architecture from around the world, tongue-in-cheek tours were also taken by some of the night’s performers including Granny Bingo stalwarts Edith Vale (Thomas Jaspers), Maureen McGillicuddy (Kyle Minall) and Caroline Springs (Scott Brennan), as well as drag superstars Lazy Susan, Zelda Moon and Art Simone.
Commenting on the Bowery Ball, NGV director Tony Ellwood AM said: “A legacy of the landmark 2022 exhibition, QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection, the Bowery Ball recognises the important contribution of the LGBTIQA+ community to Melbourne’s local art history, as well as their indelible impact on global arts and culture….’
