Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju has developed a new series of works for the exhibition ‘everybody’ at Georg Kolbe Museum. Her starting point was the sculptures of Georg Kolbe (1877–1947). Kolbe was one of the most popular sculptors of the first half of the 20th century, maintaining his success under all four political systems of his lifetime. His depictions of the human body evolved from modern, expressive, dancing figures to static, powerful figures. The latter, in particular, were instrumentalised for political purposes during the Nazi era, as they embodied the ideals of strength, health and racial purity that were being promoted by the regime. Ilupeju literally traces this adaptation by stretching discarded animal hides over Kolbe’s figures to shape them through a process called wet forming. Once dried and reinforced with resin, she further transformed the resulting leather sculptures through cuts, piercings, paintings and inscriptions. Kolbe’s sculptures, now treated as surfaces, become vulnerable due to their newfound fragility. The material—leather—contains its own histories of violence, labour and discard, subsequently shaping the impact of the figures. Obtained by skinning animals that died for food consumption, the leather recalls human skin, with its bumps, scars, and responsive-ness. This alludes to painful and abject bodily experiences that unsettle the fantasy of the perfect body and expose the violence inherent in its continual pursuit.