Subject Eye

The A-Muse-ing Sue Tilley

My friend Sue Tilley called herself ‘Big Sue’ for as long as I can remember. I first met Sue in NYC in the early 1980s. I always admired her tenacity and frankness. She was one of a pool of cool girls around town who had amazing style and presence, which takes more than just clothing to achieve. It’s one thing to construct an individual and memorable style, but you also have to emote something else as well (more on this topic in a bit). The French may call it je ne sais quoi but I think the Spanish term is more apt for what we children of the night had: cojones.

Sue was the woman who manned the door at the infamous London club Taboo. She also performed with her friend the provocateur and performance artist Leigh Bowery. I recall one of their performances at Area where they dressed in very ornate costumes as the King and Queen from a deck of cards.

A photo of Sue Tilley in Vivienne Westwood.

Sue also worked as a doorwoman for an East Village night club. Being a door person could be quite glamorous, but it also always comes in tandem with danger. Sue was involved in a scuffle at the door of this club and she was shot. She was rather matter of fact about it, calmly telling me it was merely a job hazard. I met her at the ‘go to store for all your nightclub needs,’ Patricia Fields. I was looking for…you know, another tube of pink lipstick. Sue was looking for some foundation to cover the bullet hole scar. 

Sue moved back to London and did something that many parents of artistically inclined children wished we did: she got a sensible job with benefits and daylight work hours, becoming a clerk in a government job center, and thus lending her job title to one of the most famous portraits painted in the last century. Leigh Bowery made the suggestion to the realist painter Lucian Freud that his friend Susan might be a good subject for a painting. A meeting was arranged, and Sue agreed to sit for Lucian.

Lucian Freud knew what he was doing by choosing Sue as a subject, as she has an amazing presence that could not be denied. Lucian Freud only worked with live models, the paintings took many months to execute (nine!) and Sue had to sit for 8-9 hours each session, 2 or 3 days a week. She not only had to be physically present, she had to emote as well. And emote she did. One of the paintings Lucian did of Sue, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, is considered a masterpiece of modern portraiture and in 2008 it was on the auction block garnered the highest price ever for a portrait painted by a living artist. And what she gave to Lucian Freud remains as enigmatic as The Mona Lisa’s smile.

Sue looking lovely in a gorgeous feathered hat.

Kate Middleton and Sue Tilley at a Lucian Freud exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery.

Note: Sue Tilley also is the author of a biography of her friend, the performer Leigh Bowery titled Leigh Bowery, The Life and Times of an Icon.