GIOVEDI’ 9 FEBBRAIO, ore 18.30, Camera 16, via Pisacane 16, Milano.
Inaugurazione della mostra fotografica di Fergus Greer e Johnny Rozsa su Leigh Bovery, fotografo e artista attivo negli anni 80.
Camera 16 contemporary art is pleased to present a double exhibition dedicated to two internationally famous photographers: Fergus Greer and Johnny Rozsa, who, with their shots, tell the legendary story of Leigh Bowery (1961-1994), undoubtedly one of the most controversial and avant-garde personalities of the 80′s. “About Leigh Bowery” aims to be a photographic cross-section of the deeds of the artist, performer, fashion designer, aspiring pop star and object of art that Leigh Bowery has been. Though almost unknown in Italy, he has changed the visual language of fashion, and his personality influenced people like Lucian Freud, Boy George, Antony & the Johnsons and David LaChapelle, who all have shared and spread his avant-garde ideas. For his ability to change identity, Leigh Bowery can be considered as an authentic witness of the protest against standardization and conservatism, thus representing the uniqueness of every life that does not accept rules of conduct or appearance, in a pure new-romantic style, bringing out the individual with the expressive freedom of genius. Bowery offers himself in an image that – in a transgender vision – goes beyond the separation of masculine and feminine appearances and behaviour by means of the body and clothes, originating new concepts of glamour and beauty. Leigh Bowery is one of the most extreme interpreters of the historical context he lives in: the one of the abolition of every limitation in favour of complete experimentation and contamination among the languages of music, art, fashion and design. It is the decade of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990), the birth of MTV (1981), the fall of the Berlin wall (1989), the release of Like a Virgin (1984) and other music hits like Thriller (1982). Moreover, with tv, and especially with the promotional use of music videos, visual impact becomes essential for every artist willing to enter the commercial circuit. Fergus Greer and Johnny Rozsa met Bowery and collaborated with him from 1986 to 1994, when he passed away because of HIV. Through a series of portraits, both photographers give to those who could not meet him a real visual guide of Leigh Bowery and all he created with his own image. Johnny Rozsa collaborates with Bowery in a photo shooting for the creation of Christmas Card. With an unusually emotional view for a fashion photographer, Rozsa depicts Bowery’s genuine transformism, which sacrifices the wearability of the dress in favour of the show. As well as actively collaborating with him, Fergus Greer is also a dear friend of Bowery’s: he released the “Leigh Bowery Looks” book, with previously unreleased photos. It is exactly with this visual account that the more intimate acquaintance between the two emerges. Greer captures al the profound and hard work that Bowery carries on around his body. “I try to have the best possible image thanks to my individuality and expressiveness”. (Leigh Bowery)
