Sue Tilley; Leigh Bowery, Art, friendship, Lucian Freud & wild times of the 1980s London club scene

Sue Tilley’s life connects two extraordinary worlds: the anarchic London club scene of Leigh Bowery and the uncompromising art of Lucian Freud.

In this interview, Sue recalls meeting Leigh Bowery and becoming part of the creative community surrounding clubs including Cha-Cha’s and Taboo. She discusses Leigh’s outrageous clothes, performances and storytelling—as well as the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on their generation.

Sue also reveals how Leigh introduced her to Lucian Freud, beginning an intense period of modelling that produced some of the artist’s best-known paintings. She describes sitting for Freud at night before returning to her job at the benefits office the following morning—and how the eventual sale of Benefits Supervisor Sleeping completely changed her life.

Following Leigh’s death, Sue wrote his biography and helped preserve the story of a performer whose influence continues to be felt across art, fashion, music and popular culture.

From almost four decades working in a job centre to becoming one of the most recognisable subjects in modern British art, this is Sue Tilley’s remarkable story.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
02:11 The interview begins
03:20 Childhood and family life
04:52 An early fascination with outsiders
05:54 Discovering art
07:35 Nearly 40 years working at the Jobcentre
08:26 Entering London’s gay nightlife
10:08 The early London club scene
11:17 Cha Chas and Heaven
12:02 An extraordinary creative community
13:46 Meeting Leigh Bowery
15:00 Leigh’s ambitions in fashion
16:30 Hostility towards Leigh’s appearance
17:18 Any attention was good attention
17:44 Leigh’s HIV diagnosis and creative urgency
18:31 Living through the AIDS crisis
21:27 The lost film of Leigh Bowery and Trojan
22:21 Take the Blame and Leigh’s notorious AIDS-benefit performance
24:39 Homophobia at MTV in 1988
26:01 Leigh Bowery’s connection to Lucian Freud
27:18 How Sue became Lucian Freud’s model
28:03 Sitting for Lucian Freud
28:50 Changing plans for the first painting
30:05 The length and intensity of Freud’s sittings
31:27 Lucian Freud by night, the Jobcentre by day
32:07 The story of Taboo
34:11 Leigh’s storytelling and elaborate lies
34:44 Leigh’s unfulfilled creative potential
35:50 The birth performance with Nicola Bateman
37:25 Leigh’s final illness and death
39:11 How an obituary led to Sue’s book
40:26 Writing Leigh Bowery’s biography
41:45 Leigh Bowery’s continuing influence
42:51 Nicola Bateman and Leigh’s marriage
43:58 The painting’s sale and the media attention
44:21 How the painting changed Sue’s life
46:22 The title Benefits Supervisor Sleeping
47:45 Sue becomes an artist herself
50:17 The importance of friendship and community
51:09 Closing thoughts

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Who do you associate Sue with most strongly: Leigh Bowery, Lucian Freud or London’s legendary club scene? Tell us in the comments.

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