The NRW-Forum Düsseldorf is opening a direct conversation. Its exhibition, SEX NOW, invites visitors to explore the complex role sex plays in our lives. It is a show about how sex can connect, liberate, hurt, and control. Running from September 2025 to May 2026, the exhibition brings together around 400 objects across ten themed rooms to stage an intimate dialogue about sexuality and society. It explores erotic fantasies, queer perspectives, and new realities, aiming to do so without taboos. In a modern parallel, the forum will also launch an OnlyFans account to share exclusive, uncensored material from behind the scenes.
Pleun van Dijk, Object of Desire, Wall Piece, Acrylic one, fiber glass, foam, Photo: © Nahmlos
The journey begins with a historical overview, tracing shifting attitudes from traditional gender roles to the sexual revolution and current debates. This leads to a section on #SexPositivity, where historical objects like a 1969 sex education atlas are shown alongside contemporary works. Artist Peaches contributes the Fleshie Fountain, an installation where silicone sex toys become autonomous beings subverting patriarchal structures.
Joëlle Dubois, According to Lulu he has the smallest dick ever, 2018, Acrylic on wooden panel, 50 x 30 cm, © The Strack Collection and Thomas Rehbein Galerie
The goal, as stated by curator Alain Bieber, is to start an open and humorous discussion about sex at a time when sexual freedom is under pressure globally. The exhibition uses interactive elements to make this happen. Visitors can test their knowledge of sexual myths or use the ‘Sexoscope’ to make predictions about the future of sexuality.
Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou, Fluffy Land, 2025, Installation Mixed Media, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: © Panos Kokkinias
The show is designed for discovery. The #Fluffy Library, a large-scale installation by non-binary artist Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou, creates a refuge with cushions and transfeminist literature. It will host events like a queer feminist reading group. Another chapter, #DownThere, is dedicated to societal clichés about sexual organs, featuring fabric models of genitals by the collective Glitterclit that visitors can assemble themselves.
Pedro Lobo, Knebelspiel, Kinky Keramiken, 2021, Mixed Materials, Courtesy of the artist, © Pedro Lobo
The experience is both tactile and acoustic. One sound installation explores ASMR, using rustles and whispers in a Japanese-inspired room to blur the lines between everyday sound and eroticism. The exhibition does not shy away from difficult topics. The #MeToo chapter brings together artists exploring violence and power abuse, like Poulomi Basu, who processes generational trauma in her work Fireflies.
Martin de Crignis, the beauty & the boys, 2023, Fotografie aus der Serie the beauty and the boys, Posterprint, 40 cm x 60 cm, © Martin de Crignis
The show also examines representation, looking at how mainstream pornography has influenced ideas of lust and bodies. It presents a counterpoint with the #PorYes initiative, which advocates for consensual, feminist pornography. The #Kinky chapter acknowledges fetish as a cultural practice, displaying items from a platform that caters to a specific community aroused by worn clothing.
Phallusglas, ca. 1500-1549, günes Glas, frei geblasen, Fadenauflagen, 21,5 x 13 x 8,2 cm, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Dauerleihgabe Karl Amendt, Foto: Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
From there, the focus shifts to self-care and technology. #SexualWellness traces the history of sex toys as tools for self-exploration, offering visitors a place to listen to erotic audio stories. #Eroticissima offers a hands-on experience with a gender-fluid sex and love simulator from the metaverse, where each digital encounter is preceded by a conversation about consent. The final chapter, #Futuresex, brings together artists speculating on intimacy in the digital age, from AI companions to a radical video work depicting sensual encounters between men and ferns in a forest.
Martin de Crignis, the beauty and the boys, 2023, 40 cm x 60 cm, Posterprint, © Martin de Crignis
Ultimately, SEX NOW aims to educate and give greater visibility to sexual minorities. It presents a subject that, despite decades of change, is still often characterized by inequality and shame. By launching an OnlyFans and training its staff in awareness, the NRW-Forum is attempting to create a space for this challenging, necessary discussion to happen openly.
