Marlene Almeida and Walter Leblanc: Terra Agônica

Inspired by the visionary spirit of Walter and Nicole Leblanc, the Foundation launches a new programme of exhibitions, residencies, and events, reaffirming its commitment to artistic inquiry, international dialogue, and critical engagement with the urgencies of our time.

Opening May 28, 2025, Terra Agônica brings together Brazilian artist Marlene Almeida and Walter Leblanc in a striking encounter between materiality, gesture, and process. A distinctive voice in Latin American contemporary art, Almeida’s practice unfolds at the confluence of art, ecology, and ancestral memory. For over five decades, she has developed a singular body of work rooted in the material and symbolic richness of the earth. Since the 1970s, she has investigated the expressive potential of natural pigments, particularly mineral clays and plant-based binders, collected from across Brazil’s diverse geological and cultural landscapes. These pigments are not merely tools, but the very substance of her aesthetic, philosophical, and political enquiry. Terra Agônica marks Almeida’s first presentation in Belgium.

Best known for his torsions, monochromes, and experiments with light, Walter Leblanc’s early work reveals a lesser-known yet crucial phase in his career—one where the tactile qualities of matter take center stage. These formative explorations offer new insight into the evolution of his engagement with rhythm, structure, and perception, and open a dialogue with Almeida’s materially grounded, process-driven practice.

On October 14, 2025, the Foundation will present a solo exhibition by pioneering Spanish, Paris-based artist Esther Ferrer. Active since the 1960s, Ferrer is best known for her radical performance work, which has consistently challenged conventional notions of time, authorship, and the institutional framing of art. Alongside her ephemeral, action-based practice, Ferrer has developed a significant body of work in installation, photography, and drawing, often employing mathematical structures, chance operations, and everyday gestures. Her work has been presented widely across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and remains a key reference in feminist and conceptual art.

Beginning in September 2025, Spanish, Brussels-based artist Oriol Vilanova will take part in the Foundation’s artist-in-residence programme, working closely with the archive and collection. His conceptual practice, centred on the collection and reactivation of cultural artefacts, particularly vintage postcards, will culminate in a solo exhibition in January 2026, preceding the artist's presentation at the Spanish pavilion for the 61st Venice Biennale. Both projects by Ferrer and Vilanova are part of Europalia España, a country-wide cultural programme taking place in Belgium in 2025–2026.

Launched with projects by Mario García Torres, Edith Dekyndt, and Hana Miletić, our exhibition programme has established a space for contemporary perspectives to engage with Leblanc’s work through conceptual, material, and political lenses.

A symposium on October 9, 2025, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and Centrum Kunstarchieven Vlaanderen, will explore Walter Leblanc’s archive as a living tool for research and transmission. Lisa Le Feuvre, Ursula Davila-Villa, Rossana Miele, Johan Pas, Nico Dockx and other international guests will reflect on the role of archives in contemporary practice and on strategies for preserving and activating artists’ legacies. This event concludes a pilot programme supported by the Flemish Government that investigates new institutional models for engaging with archival material.

About the foundation
Founded in 2006, the Walter & Nicole Leblanc Foundation is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving, studying, and sharing the work of Walter Leblanc. With a collection of over 500 artworks and archival items, and under the directorship of María Inés Rodríguez and a dedicated team, the foundation organises exhibitions, symposia, a residency program and publications in collaboration with artists, researchers, and institutions worldwide. 

Our programmes are kindly supported by: Vlaamse Overheid — Departement Cultuur, Jeugd en Media, EUROPALIA ESPAÑA, AECID—the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Almeida & Dale Gallery. With special thanks to WIELS, Brussels