ONYX by Adrienne Raquel

About

Fotografiska New York is proud to announce ONYX, a new series by New York-based photographer and art director Adrienne Raquel. Created specifically for exhibition at Fotografiska New York, ONYX maintains Raquel’s soulful sensibilities even as she departs from the usual creative process of her acclaimed commercial work.

In this alluring and provocative photographic exploration of the famed Onyx strip club in Houston, Texas, Raquel favors a bold and tactile documentary style over her usual polish, all while preserving the glamour of her subjects. The result is a visually rich depiction of the dancers, transporting the viewer to the palpable heat of the environment through captivating, club-inspired curation.

With her signature gloss and attention to detail, Raquel highlights the nuances of Southern strip culture, focusing on the relationships between the dancers to depict a captivating narrative of femininity, sisterhood, transformation and strength. ONYX comes in the wake of female performers such as Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion denouncing the societal stigmas often associated with exotic dancing and paving the way for a new era of celebrated female sexuality.

This new series evokes the bold and timeless visual style of the late 1990s and early 2000s hip-hop video vixens. Raquel photographs the dancers in poses that are at once vulnerable and powerful: backstage, on the pole and around the club. Her images are at times dynamic and at others quiet - her macro portraits of nails, jewelry and tattoos acting as personal vignettes to capture the essence of each dancer.

In her first ever solo show, Raquel has created an emotionally charged, colorful illustration of the Onyx strip club and the women who bring it to life.