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NEW YORK CITY — Perry Rubenstein Gallery, 527 West 23 Street will present “Useless Man,” a unique exhibition of the work of the late Australian-born artist Leigh Bowery. The title of the exhibition derives from a single released in 1994 by Bowery’s band Minty. The exhibition will consist of approximately 20 photographs of Bowery as a result of his collaboration with photographer Fergus Greer between 1988 and 1994, and two films by Charles Atlas, Teach and Mrs Peanut Visits New York.

Bowery was an icon who traversed the worlds of fashion, music and art. In addition to being a costume and clothing designer, performer and nightclub fixture, he was the ultimate exemplar of the entertainer as a social phenomenon. Renowned for dressing in provocative and meticulously designed costumes, Bowery would set out every night, to a club, or his own performance, boasting a multitude of piercings, rivaled perhaps only by the sequins he donned. The relentless desire to take center stage later developed into a systematic approach to rewriting the body’s grammar.

By 1993 Bowery’s confrontational performance style was widely acknowledged as an important contribution to performance art, in addition to contributing to the frontiers of modern dance as seen through several collaborations with choreographer and friend Michael Clark. During the last four years of his life, Bowery was the prominent muse of the preeminent British painter Lucian Freud. The intimate, nude paintings of the larger-than-life performer captured an enigmatic balance between Bowery’s abrasive intensity and calm repose in an honest reflection of a man who has been described as a “beautiful monster.”

On view in the West 24 Street gallery will be a new, site-specific installation by Italian artist Piero Golia, from January 14 to February 26. Working in a variety of media, Golia’s sculptural installations create a tension between the realm of possibility and the unimaginable. For example, he convinced a young woman whom he met in a brief encounter to tattoo an image of himself on her back. Once she agreed, her tattoo was photographed and exhibited in a larger-than-life gallery installation.

Gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm. For information, 212-627-8000 or www.PerryRubenstein.com.