ADRIENNE RAQUEL’S ONYX

BY: Sunny Sunday

Within the shadowed confines of Houston’s famed Onyx Club, the strip club experience intertwines with the world of art. Exotic dancers weave around poles and pivot upon their elevated stages. A dreamscape of lusciously warm color tones, both soft and vivid, encase the subjects. Adrienne Raquel captures an intimate glimpse into this harbored nightclub scene. While the imagery revels in tantalizing escapism and fantasy, it more acutely exalts and gives weighty substance to the experiences of the Black performers whose narratives are often socially diminished or written off.

In collaboration with Fotografiska New York, the New York-based photographer and art director return to the roots of her Texan hometown to document the underrepresented women who create, hustle, and pay their bills within this profession. She comments, “From the clear platform heels and sultry two-pieces, to editorialized hair and makeup, the performers on these stages continue to serve as a blueprint for popular culture and artists across a multitude of industries, while their art form is largely disregarded.”

 

Raquel stated in a GQ interview that the intentions based around ONYX’s inception were to rid “people of any preconceived notions they may have about Black women and Black beauty […] These women are more than just beautiful bodies and sexualized objects — it’s more than “showing ass for money.””  The powerful Black subjects photographed by Raquel demonstrate strength, seduction, and talent while simultaneously exercising their rights to maneuver throughout the profession within the limits of their boundaries, molding the act of stripping into the form that they see fit.

ONYX echoes the sentiment that figures like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have broadcasted, taking strides to shatter the stigmas surrounding strippers. In a similar sense, Raquel’s passion project impresses upon the viewer elements of uninhibited respect, all while sensually framing the female performers in the glow of bubblegum pinks and residual reds. Thus, the viewer is granted the access to truly absorb the layers and multifaceted dimensions of the women thriving within the shimmering spaces of Onyx, as well as to admire the grace, poise, and sensuality of this enigmatic art form.

The exhibition is at Fotografiska New York, from April 22 to August 29, 2021. To learn more about the collection, visit here.