The Parlor NYC is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by artist in residence Indira Cesarine opening on October 29, 2020 and on view through August 31, 2021. The exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with The Untitled Space gallery, will be the inauguration of their resident artist series presented annually at the newly opened 13,000 sq ft luxury wellness space located in the heart of the NoMad Design District at 33rd Street and Madison Avenue.

The Parlor NYC’s artist residency uniquely fuses the luxury wellness community with contemporary art. The exhibition presents a collection of over 70 works in a variety of mediums including photography, printmaking, and mixed media neon artwork created by the artist between 1993-2020. Many early works on paper, including a number of intaglio etchings created in the 1990s are being exhibited for the first time. Known for her empowering feminist themes, Indira Cesarine’s artwork engages a narrative of social discourse and art activism. Cesarine’s artwork has been featured internationally at many galleries, museums, and festivals, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mattatuck Museum, Hudson Valley MOCA, The Watermill Center, Paul Mellon Art Center, CICA Museum, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, French Embassy Cultural Center, Art Basel Miami, Cannes Film Festival, and SPRING/BREAK Art Show to name a few.

The Parlor NYC’s inaugural residency displays select works from Cesarine’s “Goddess,” “Papiliones,” “EDEN,” “THE LABYRINTH,” “ONLY YOU,” as well as “Sappho” and “GIRLS” series. Juxtaposed with The Parlor NYC’s interior foliage walls, her “Papiliones” series features macro photographic visuals of a variety of butterfly species Cesarine photographed in Costa Rica. The imagery is manipulated to present “butterfly blots” inspired by the psychological ink blots known as the Rorschach Test. Her “EDEN” photographic series, inspired by the Garden of Eden and the story of Eve, complements The Parlor NYC’s lush garden interiors. Continuing through the space is Cesarine’s “Goddess” series featuring celebrated modern dancer Katherine Crockett’s nude form juxtaposed with macro florals. Throughout The Parlor NYC, the viewer can discover a number of her nude portraits and erotic florals from “THE LABYRINTH” series which emphasize her female gaze on Surrealism with a focus on female identity and desire.

Additional photographic works on view include a selection of archival prints on aluminum from her “ONLY YOU” series, which focus on the eyes as an emotional portal. A number of intaglio etchings from her “Sappho” series created in the early 90s premiere in the residency. Intaglio printmaking has been an important part of Cesarine’s artistic practice since she first started creating. Her etchings are inspired by women’s history often taking as inspiration figures from mythology, philosophy, media, and literature. The “Sappho” series is inspired by Greek poet Sappho, who lived between 630BCE and 570 BCE on the Greek Isle of Lesbos. Considered to be one of the greatest of the early Greek poets, her verses elaborated on erotic themes of love and passion. A selection of more recent etchings from Cesarine’s "GIRLS” series are also featured in the exhibition. The vibrant hued prints celebrate the female form, re-appropriating silhouettes from vintage pin-up images and re-positioning them in natural environments as an act of female empowerment and sex-positive femininity. The overview of works spanning several decades on view at The Parlor NYC is brought together through the venue’s earthy contemporary interior.

“2020 has been a year of reflection for me. Like many others, during the quarantine, I have had a lot of time to think about my past, my future, as well as my work as an artist. When I was approached by The Parlor NYC to present my work throughout their 13,000 square foot space, initially it was a rather overwhelming concept. It also inspired me to review my entire body of work and consider including many early works that I had never exhibited before. It has been a motivating process to dig through my archives and not only see how my style has evolved over the years, but also see it come to life in The Parlor NYC’s contemporary urban oasis. Explorations of female identity, sexuality, dreams, and desires have been returning themes in my artwork since I first started creating. Through this residency I was able to present several series of works that resonate with these themes, and I’m thankful for this opportunity to not only have my work on view for the next year at The Parlor NYC but also for the insight and inspiration it has given me in the continuation of my art practice. I want to thank Magnus Resch for the introduction to Pam Wolf, founder of The Parlor NYC. I’m looking forward to continuing the collaboration with the venue not only as an artist but also as a curator for future residencies at the space. Now more than ever is a time to think outside the box, with artists, creatives, and businesses alike supporting each other and continuing to make New York City thrive with creative opportunities.” – Indira Cesarine

Indira Cesarine is a Mexican American multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, video, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. A graduate of Columbia University with a triple major in Art History, French, and Women’s Studies, she additionally studied at Parson’s School of Design, International Center of Photography, School of Visual Arts, Art Students League, and the New York Academy of Art. Cesarine had her first solo show at the age of sixteen at Paul Mellon Arts Center. Her work as an artist has been featured internationally at many art galleries, museums, and art fairs, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hudson Valley MOCA, The Watermill Center, Mattatuck Museum, Albany Institute, CICA Museum, Smack Mellon, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, French Embassy Cultural Center, Art Basel Miami, SCOPE Art Fair, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Norwood Arts Club, Cannes Film Festival, and the International Festival Photo Mode to name a few.

In 2014, her public art sculpture, The Egg of Light, was exhibited at Rockefeller Center as part of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt. Cesarine’s work has been auctioned in a number of art benefits including Sotheby’s New York Take Home A Nude, ARTWALK NY benefiting the Coalition for the Homeless, and Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, among others. Her artwork and exhibitions have been featured internationally in many publications including The New York Times, American Vogue, Vogue Italia, Forbes, Newsweek, W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, i-D, Dazed and Confused, New York Magazine, CNN Style, and The Huffington Post. Cesarine explores her creative vision as an artist vis-à-vis traditional and new mediums and finds strength in examining new ideas in contemporary culture.

The Goddess Series features photographic artwork of renowned dancer Katherine Crockett shot in studio on medium format and montaged with landscapes and macro flora images, with all photography and compositing by Indira Cesarine. The series is predominately in black and white and printed with archival ink on raw aluminum metal with a dye sublimation process. It presents empowering emotive images of the female form, with the graceful physical strength of the dancer juxtaposed with images representing the power of nature. Mother Earth becomes personified through the beauty of a goddess dancing.

Dancer Katherine Crockett is known for her career in modern dance and performance, having been the principal dancer of Martha Graham Dance Company. She toured internationally with the company for twenty-one years. Crockett additionally starred as “The Queen” in the Off-Broadway immersive theater hit, “Queen of the Night,” for which she created and choreographed her role. She has danced alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov, and has been featured in numerous films including award-winning “Fall to Rise” directed by Jayce Bartok, and in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as Cate Blanchett’s dancer double, directed by David Fincher.

The “Papiliones” series features macro photographic visuals of a variety of butterfly species Cesarine photographed in Costa Rica in 2014, and abstracted between 2015-2016. Each medium format image is manipulated to present “butterfly blots,” her take on the psychological ink blots known as the Rorschach Test. The butterfly (“papiliones” in Latin) has traditionally represented a symbol of rebirth and transformation. The artist stated, “I went to Costa Rica to get away from the urban intensity of New York. While I was there I spent a lot of time in nature, and got an opportunity to photograph the wild butterflies of the region. The images inspired me to create this abstracted series, which in many regards is a reflection on my own personal metamorphosis. It was a time of transition, of personal growth and change, leaving my old life behind for a new one.”

“ONLY YOU” is a conceptual narrative portrait series chronicling a woman’s emotions as she traverses a metaphorical landscape of love, loss, and betrayal. Each artwork is part of the greater narrative of her story. The “ONLY YOU” series is based on autobiographical experiences of the artist and includes photography, video art, and sculpture. Throughout the series, Cesarine emphasized close-ups of the face, with an emphasis on the eyes as a portal of emotions, often dramatically rendered with Surreal techniques of solarization and intense high contrast light effects. The “ONLY YOU” series has been featured internationally including at Art Basel Miami, London’s Red Bull Studios, CICA Museum (South Korea), SCOPE Basel Art Fair (Switzerland), Cannes Film Festival, The Big Screen Plaza (New York) as well as Norwood Arts Club in Chelsea.