Draft:Claye Bowler

Claye Bowler
Notable workTOP
Websiteclayebowler.com

Claye Bowler is British sculptor and artist, whose work is held in the Arts Council Collection and the Wellcome Collection and who has exhibited at Henry Moore Institute, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Queer Britain. His work has been compared to that of Henry Moore and Bowler was the first out transgender artist to have a solo exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute.

Career

Bowler's earliest work Measured Transition: 2016-2021 was a five-year performance piece.[1] Based on Bowler's experience of access, or lack thereof, to gender-affirming healthcare, the work involved Bowler not cutting his hair between his initial referral for treatment and the 31 month wait before his appointment as a gender identity clinic.[1] Bowler kept growing his hair after this, and did not cut it until his surgery, using a scalpel to do so to reflect "both self-harm and surgical settings".[1] Bowler' hair is in the Museum of Transology at the Bishopsgate Institute.[1] His work more broadly interrogates archival practices as art.[1] In 2021 work by Bowler was included in the exhibition Queer Constellations: Artistic Trespass and Rural Gay Histories held at the Museum of English Rural Life.[2]

In 2022 Bowler's exhibition TOP was exhibited at the Henry Moore Institute (HMI) in Leeds.[3] The show exhibited an installation of sculpture, drawing and video that documented his top surgery.[3] The group of work was compiled across a five year period.[4] With this exhibition, Bowler was the "first out trans artist" to have a solo show at HMI; this led to a backlash on Mumsnet.[5] In Frieze's review of the show, the review compared the casts that Bowler made of his own body to the sculptures of Henry Moore "albeit imbued with a deeply personal, queer narrative".[3] The work TOP is held in the Arts Council Collection,[6] and its archive is held at Wellcome Collection.[7] In 2025 TOP was exhibited as Queer Britain.[8][9]

Dig Me A Grave was Bowler's 2025 exhibition which was shown at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.[10] The main exhibition was in a space at the park known as The Chapel, but also included a new permanent acquisition - Over My Dead Body - displayed elsewhere in the park in the Bothy Garden.[10] The works are inspired by grief, graves and burials, musical folk traditions and delays in gender-affirming care.[10] Indeed the exhibitions' name comes from a British folk song.[11] Works in the exhibition used materials that included latex, stone, plaster and metal, and visitors to the show were invited to touch and interact with the artworks.[11] The library of the Henry Moore Foundation acquired an artist's book produced by Bowler for the exhibition.[12]

In 2024 Bowler was a juror for the Innovator Award presented by the International Sculpture Center, along with artists Aurora Noreña and Supermrin.[13] Bowler has also worked in museum registration and collections management.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "YSI artist spotlight: Claye Bowler and Nwando Ebizie". Corridor8. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  2. ^ Roe, Epha; Jukes, Joe (2023-02-17). "Queer Constellations: Reflections on Curatorial and Creative Practice at the Museum of English Rural Life". Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network. 16 (1). ISSN 1755-9944.
  3. ^ a b c Selfridge, Lou; Kaczynska, Ania; Maganga, Matthew; Spier, Nevan; Surjid, Vaishna (2022-11-18). "Frieze New Writers Pick The Best Shows to See in the UK". Frieze. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  4. ^ Bland, Archie (2022-10-27). "Thursday briefing: Is Northern Ireland about to face another election?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  5. ^ Moore, Sam (2022-10-26). "Claye Bowler: 'I want to put trans people on the map in sculpture'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  6. ^ "Top (part 1 of 7) | The Arts Council Collection". web.archive.org. 2026-07-23. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  7. ^ "Top (2022) part 7.2 of 7". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  8. ^ "HISTORY 2025 Top by Claye Bowler | Queer Britain museum". queerbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  9. ^ Hardaker, Alistair (2025-03-26). "Queer Britain welcomes Sir Elton John and husband as patrons". Museums + Heritage. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  10. ^ a b c "Column: Laura Keene: Powerful New Exhibition Dig Me a Grave at YSP". Wakefield Express. 2025-10-15. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  11. ^ a b https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/feats-of-claye-new-exhibition-by-claye-bowler-set-to-open-in-yorkshire-5311334
  12. ^ "New library acquisitions: Winter 2025 | Henry Moore Institute". Henry Moore Foundation. 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  13. ^ "International Sculpture Center". sculpture.org. Archived from the original on 2026-04-26. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  14. ^ "Info". CLAYE BOWLER. Retrieved 2026-07-25.

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