Trojan; Leigh Bowery

© David Gwinnutt / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Trojan; Leigh Bowery

by David Gwinnutt
bromide fibre print, 1983
18 7/8 in. x 13 1/2 in. (480 mm x 342 mm) image size
Purchased, 2007
Photographs Collection
NPG x131399

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • David Gwinnutt (1961-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 21 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Fashion Icons, p. 152 Read entry

    David Gwinnutt (b.1961) encountered the iconic performance artist Leigh Bowery outside Heaven nightclub in Charing Cross, London, and remembered being enthralled by his experimental dress sense. Gwinnutt photographed Bowery at his home in east London, which he shared with the artist Trojan. Immersed in the hedonistic London underground club scene – in which a new wave of artists, designers and musicians flourished and collaborated – Bowery and Trojan used their bodies as a canvas for creative expression with outlandish outfits and theatrical make-up, including Trojan's painted 'Picasso face' depicted in this portrait. In January 1985, Bowery launched the Taboo club in Leicester Square, instructing visitors to follow his mantra: 'Dress as though your life depends on it or don't bother.'

  • Ribeiro, Aileen; Blackman, Cally, A Portrait of Fashion: Six Centuries of Dress at the National Portrait Gallery, 2015, p. 258

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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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