Kunsthalle Wien hosts a retrospective of celebrated French artist Nicola L. (b. 1932, El Jadida, as Nicole Jeannine Suzanne Leuthe; d. 2018, Los Angeles). Encompassing sculpture, performance, painting, collage and film produced between 1964 and 2014, the exhibition brings together works on loan from public and private collections in Europe and the United States of America. Presented in collaboration with Camden Art Centre, London; Frac Bretagne, Rennes and Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano/Bozen, it is the first survey of Nicola L.’s work in Europe and will also be the first monographic exhibition devoted to her work in Austria.

Variously celebrated in relation to pop art, nouveau réalisme, the 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 Also presented is a reconstruction of a large-scale installation, entitled Chambre en Fourrure, or Fur Room, originally made in 1969.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.

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.

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated monograph on Nicola L. published by Camden Art Centre; Frac Bretagne; Kunsthalle Wien; Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bozen/Bolzano and Lenz. Published in English, French, Italian and German, Nicola L.: I Am The Last Woman Object includes new essays and supplementary texts on major bodies of work presenting a long overdue appraisal of her multifaceted oeuvre.