A Personal Journey
For artist Sandra Martin, this exhibition completes a circle. Having participated in Nijverheid’s Drink & Draw sessions as both model and artist, she brings firsthand experience of what it means to be on both sides of the gaze.

“Exhibitionist” doesn’t just show you art—it makes you aware of your own gaze. This immersive exhibition of glass paintings is a personal and political inquiry into what it means to be seen.

The project was born from a simple, profound act: posing nude for over a hundred people. This experience forced the artist to confront the core questions that shape the exhibition:

• Where is the line between art and pornography? Between a muse and a commodity?

• What does it mean for a woman to willingly commodify her own image?

• In 2025, what does it mean to live a “bohemian” life, and who gets to call it art?

The title, “Exhibitionist,” is a deliberate double entendre. It points to the artist who exhibits her work, and the model who exhibits her body. By presenting paintings of nudes on transparent glass, and using mirrors to reflect the audience back at themselves, the exhibition dismantles the safe distance between the viewer and the viewed. You are implicated. Your looking becomes part of the performance.

This is not a theoretical exercise. It is grounded in the history of Nijverheid itself—a place that has long navigated the boundaries between artistic expression and the economics of the body. It also confronts its own context: the legacy of the “bohemian” artist’s model, a role that a century ago would have been scandalous for a woman of a certain background, and today remains a complex negotiation of privilege, power, and presentation.

“Exhibitionist” is an immersive installation that turns the gallery into a hall of mirrors – both literal and conceptual. Through painted glassworks and strategic mirror placements, the exhibition invites you to become part of the artwork itself.

The Double Meaning
The title plays with two ideas: the artist who exhibits their work, and the model who exhibits their body. This exhibition lives in the space between these two acts of display, questioning where we draw the line between artistic observation and other forms of looking.

Your Role in the Experience
You encounter:

• Glass paintings of nude figures, many inspired by Nijverheid’s own Drink & Draw sessions

• Mirrors that reflect your gaze back at you

• Lighting that creates multiple layers of visibility and shadow

You’ll find yourself simultaneously observer and observed – watching the artworks while seeing yourself and others watching. This conscious awareness of looking is the heart of the exhibition.

Why This Space Matters
Nijverheid’s history with both artistic practice and sex work provides the perfect context for this exploration. The works are deeply connected to this specific place, having emerged from life-drawing sessions held in these very rooms.