Leigh Bowery

This portraitback to top

Gwinnutt first encountered the influential performance artist Leigh Bowery outside Heaven nightclub in Charing Cross, and remembered being enthralled by his outlandishly experimental dress sense. Gwinnutt arranged to photograph Bowery at his council flat in East London, described by visitors as ‘a temple of kitsch’. Posed before Star Trek wallpaper, Gwinnutt’s portrait captures the extrovert in a moment of contemplation and allows a rare study of Bowery’s face, usually camouflaged by make-up or costume.

Events of 1983back to top

Current affairs

Margaret Thatcher wins a landslide majority for the Conservative Party at the general election. Although her premiership had previously been unpopular, the British victory in the Falklands coupled with divisions in Michael Foot's Labour opposition, helped her to gain popularity and win the most decisive election victory since 1945.

Art and science

The British sitcom Blackadder is aired for the first time. Each of the four series followed the character of the anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and took place during a different period of British history. The first series, The Black Adder, was a satire of medieval England during the rein of the fictitious Richard IV, and frequently lifted famous lines from Shakespeare.

International

The armed struggle between Tamil militants and the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka begin with the Black July pogrom. Mobs (allegedly supported by the government) started attacking and murdering Tamils following an attack by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on government soldiers. Civil war between the government and Tamil nationalists has continued sporadically ever since.

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