"In the opening space of Nicola L.'s I Am the Last Woman Object at the Museion, the late artist's fabric banners hang from the walls. Emblazoned with stenciled slogans like "We Want to Breathe" or "Same Skin for Everybody," each has head-shaped spaces big enough to contain the faces of multiple people who might slip into these skins, serving as a testament to solidarity. Morocco-born French artist Nicola L. (full name Nicola Leuthe-Lanzenberg) worked between Paris"
"Her later "functional sculptures" - among them the Femme Commodes (1969-2014), brightly colored wooden cabinets shaped like feminine silhouettes, with drawers occupying breasts, bellies, or navels - nod to second-wave feminism. Her furnishings include a large vinyl floor cushion in the shape of a foot, a sofa whose backrest traces a facial profile, and even lamps designed as popped-open eyes or red lips."
Nicola L. produced playful, socially engaged works from the 1960s onward, working between Paris, Ibiza, and later New York. Her output connects to Nouveau Réalisme and includes "functional sculptures" such as Femme Commodes: brightly colored wooden cabinets shaped like feminine silhouettes with drawers positioned at breasts, bellies, or navels. Her furnishings extend to vinyl cushions, profile-backrest sofas, and lamps shaped as eyes or lips. She created pénétrables—wearable textile environments like Red Coat for multiple people—used in public performances to stage collective presence. Her work foregrounds solidarity, bodily multiplicity, and resistance enacted through collaboration and shared embodiment.
Read at Hyperallergic
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