In the summer of 2026, Muhka will present the first major retrospective in Belgium fully dedicated to Nicola L., an artist renowned for her groundbreaking, multidisciplinary work. Visitors will discover five decades of creativity in which sculpture, performance, painting, film, and design converge, and gain insight into her innovative approaches to gender, the body, and space.
Interactive, radical, gender-aware
Nicola L. worked at the intersection of visual art, design, and performance. She was known for creating art that actively engages the audience and questions existing power structures and gender roles. Her iconic Penetrable sculptures are soft, body-like forms that can be worn or entered, blurring the boundary between spectator and artwork. Throughout her career, she explored the female body as a symbol of both freedom and constraint. Her work combines humor, political engagement, and playful experimentation with materials and space.
90 works, 5 decades
The exhibition presents around 90 works from various collections and Nicola L.’s estate, including sculptures, large-scale Penetrables, film recordings, paintings, collages, texts, and archival material. It highlights how her practice is both visually striking and politically performative. The exhibition situates her work in an international context, drawing attention to her connections with Fluxus, Marcel Broodthaers, and other avant-garde artists. Visitors will experience the interactive character of her work and engage with its deeper themes of gender, the body, and collective agency.
The exhibition comes at a moment of renewed interest in her legacy. Nicola L. is recognized not only as a unique voice in the postwar avant-garde but also as a visionary precursor to contemporary debates on the body, gender, and collective empowerment.
Bio Nicola L.
Nicola L. was born in 1932 in Mazagan, Morocco, as Nicole Jeannine Suzanne Leuthe, and passed away in 2018 in Los Angeles. She emerged on the Parisian art scene in the 1960s and was initially associated with Pop Art, but soon developed her own interdisciplinary practice. Her work encompasses sculpture, performance, painting, film, and design. Recurring themes include sexuality, activism, political resistance, ecology, cosmology, and spirituality. She is regarded as a visionary voice within the postwar avant-garde, with a lasting influence on contemporary discussions of the body, gender, and performative art.
https://www.muhka.be/en/exhibitions/nicola-l-the-same-skin-for-everyone/
Artists: Nicola L.
