Bat Girls and Acid Boys: The Spontaneous Drawings of Leigh Bowery & Friends - Softcover

Torrey, Richard; Trunk, Jonny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1917319002 ISBN 13: 9781917319003

Publisher: Strange Attractor Press, 2025

Synopsis

120 vivid "exquisite corpse" drawings made by the outrageous artist, performer, and designer Leigh Bowery with friends and collaborators during the 1980s and 1990s.

In the wild years of the 1980s and early 1990s, when central London was a clubbers’ paradise, a circle of young, queer friends, including the celebrated Australian designer, performer, musician, and provocateur Leigh Bowery and his Minty bandmates would get together at Richard Torry's Soho flat before hitting the town.

To pass the time, the troupe would sometimes make “exquisite corpses,” employing a technique popular with the Surrealists to create collaboratively-drawn compound images of often outrageous characters.

The 120 images collected here, assembled from the Richard Torry archive, showcase the acerbic wit, lysergic absurdity, and sometimes cruel gaze of the young friends, while presenting an exaggerated snapshot of the era’s styles, fashions, and obsessions.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Torry is a musician, artist and former member of the band Minty, with Leigh Bowery.

Jonny Trunk founded and runs his Trunk Records label, and is a highly regarded collector, music discoverer, broadcaster, and record producer. He has edited and compiled a number of books for Fuel, Four Corners, and others.

Edition details

• Publisher: Strange Attractor Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1917319002
• ISBN 13: 9781917319003
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128