Variously celebrated in relation to Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Feminism or applied arts and design, Nicola L.’s expansive practice also addresses diverse subjects including cosmology, environmental concerns, spirituality, sexuality, activism and political resistance. Her work frequently collapses boundaries between the body and space. It is characterised by wit, playfulness and subversion, while resolutely defying categorisation and spanning multiple disciplines.

The exhibition includes a series of Pénétrables sculptures. These textile sculptures were originally intended as participatory works with apertures that people could insert limbs or heads into, occasionally with several performers creating a single organism. Also presented is a reconstruction of a large-scale installation, entitled Chambre en Fourrure, or Fur Room, originally made in 1969. The approximately 3m × 5m × 4m structure combined purple faux fur, zippers and a metal armature to create a freestanding room which could be entered, inviting the audience to become performers.

A number of functional objects such as lamps, sofas and commodes are also included. A series of painted wooden cabinets take the form of a silhouetted female torso. Floor and wall-based lamps take the shape of an eye; a coffee table describes the outline of a woman’s body and a sofa is shaped like a head seen in profile. Soft, pliable sculpture takes the form of feet and fragmented bodies. Scaled up and upholstered with coloured vinyl and fur, these tactile objects are imbued with a political message that emphasises equality, collectivity and the place of women within the home and society.

The exhibition is accompanied by a new book published by the four institutions together with Lenz Press.

Biography

During her lifetime Nicola L. (b. 1932, El Jadida, as Nicole Jeannine Suzanne Leuthe; d. 2018, Los Angeles) held solo exhibitions at the Sculpture Center, New York (2017); Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami; M HKA, Antwerp; MAMAC, Nice; Le Magasin, Grenoble (all 1986) and Museo de Arte Contemporá neo de Ibiza (1976). Her work has also been presented within group surveys at Museum Brandhorst, Munich (2022); Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nice (2021); Tate Modern, London (2015); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2009) and Musée d’Ixelles (1975). Her performances have been presented at Tate Modern, London (2015); the Liverpool Biennial (2014); and the Secession in Vienna (2009). She lived and worked in Paris, and periodically from Brussels and Ibiza. From 1989, she lived and worked at the Chelsea Hotel in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 2017.