“With ONYX, I want to challenge negative stereotypes often associated with exotic dancing and uplift the women that command the stage.”
—Adrienne Raquel
In June 2020, Adrienne Raquel (b.1990) gained exclusive access to Club Onyx, the most famous strip club in Houston, Texas, to document the communities of exotic dancers from a Black female perspective, ‘revealing the dancers as genuine women, each brimming with talent, aspirations, hopes and dreams.’ In Where Dreams Lie, the captivating portrait offered here, we see the performer on the pole, strikingly silhouetted against the candy pink glow of the lights and the neon sign. ‘Kali is a phenomenal dancer, super acrobatic, strong, and graceful’ recalls Raquel. 'I spotted her dancing from across the club, made my way over to shoot her, and suddenly, she’s in this pose; there was nothing set up about it.’ Shot from below, the artist imbues her subject with a commanding presence, seamlessly balancing light and dark in this cinematic composition.
Working between New York and Los Angeles, Raquel has exhibited widely, including her solo exhibition ONYX at Fotografiska New York (2021), Aperture’s The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion (2020-23) and Mickalene Thomas: Better Nights at The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach (2019-20).
This offering marks the artist’s debut at auction.
