Malcom McLaren, Quentin Crisp, Genesis P Orridge, Vivienne Westwood, Leigh Bowery. We do unconventionality very well. This pick (your pick may be different) known as much for who they were as what they were. Floating free from societal expectations and the prison camp right-wing and Trumpist goons would have had them incarcerated in they, arguably, projected a kind of Britishness that did (and still does) more for our nation than any king, politician or businessman. Leigh Bowery was what? A clubber, socialite, performance artist, fashionista and one of greatest artist’s models ever. Yet, even if this info wasn’t known he was instantly recognisable, a London face, a fabulous and outrageous Brit. In this biography Sue Tilley diligently, cooly and smartly dissects the life and makes a great job of explaining the whys and wherefores of eighties clubland and how Leigh’s skill and determination lifted him above the throng. Partly because he was a skilful manipulator of his image, his face a work of art that could, depending on the night, appear comic, horrific or just downright otherworldly; and partly because of his skill as a designer of his own outlandish style and look. And if anyone thinks the age of unconventionality is over let me pick, for instance, Steve McQueen, Tracy Emin, Banksy, or Stormzy as the next (or continuing) tranche of brilliant Brits. Thank god (or anyone else) for our unconventional kings and queens.

Leigh Bowery: The Life and Times of an Icon – Sue Tilley – publ. by Thames & Hudson - £12.99

Steven Long