Helen Frankenthaler
(1997); printed (2018-2021)
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
25.4 × 25.1 cm (image) 35.4 × 27.6 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Michael S. Sachs, 2023
© The Estate of Nancy Lee Katz
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Fergus Greer worked in commercial photography for leading magazines, regularly shooting covers for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, among others. He first met Australian performer and artist Leigh Bowery in a London gallery in 1988, and from then until Bowery’s untimely death in 1994 documented thirty-nine of Bowery’s signature looks, from which this suite of photographs is drawn. Bowery remarked about his costumes: ‘I’m interested in a jarring aesthetic … the idea that something can be frightening and heroic and pathetic all at the same time.’ Greer’s pictures showcase Bowery’s individuality, capturing his performative spirit and the way he celebrated colour and form.