EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ARTIST INDIRA CESARINE ON ART AS ACTIVISM, FEMINISM, AND THE POWER OF RESISTANCE—FEATURED IN “THE ART OF RESISTANCE” ISSUE
The Untitled Magazine sat down with artist, curator, and founder of The Untitled Space, Indira Cesarine, for “THE ART OF RESISTANCE” Art Edition of The Untitled Magazine for an exclusive interview. Created in conjunction with The Untitled Space‘s 10th-anniversary exhibition, UPRISE 2025: The Art of Resistance, Cesarine’s featured works confront urgent issues including reproductive rights, gender equality, political injustice, and the fight for civil liberties. In this exclusive interview, Cesarine reflects on her multidisciplinary artistic practice, the evolution of her work as both artist and curator, and her commitment to using art as a catalyst for activism, empowerment, and social change. Read on for the full interview below, featured in the print edition, available now.
In a moment when truth feels under siege and civil liberties are continually eroded by regressive political tides, artist and curator Indira Cesarine offers an urgent visual antidote. Her multidisciplinary practice—spanning photography, neon sculpture, video, painting, and installation—confronts societal crises with unflinching honesty and luminous conviction. In UPRISE 2025: The Art of Resistance, an exhibition she both curated and contributed to, Cesarine’s work appears alongside a powerful assembly of artists. Her contributions—feminist, politically charged, and deeply personal—speak directly to the current moment, grappling with the lived realities of oppression and the emotional toll of lost freedoms.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Untitled Space, the Tribeca gallery she founded in 2015, UPRISE 2025 brought together 100 artists from across the United States and beyond to mark a decade of creative activism. Among her featured works, American Dreams confronts one of the most urgent issues of our time: the rollback of reproductive rights.
“My American Dreams series is about the realities of living in America in 2025, with many women across the country at a loss with their reproductive rights having been stripped away… with hopes and dreams often destroyed,” Cesarine shares. “It is a painful and disheartening blow to our fundamental freedoms and a profound violation of personal autonomy, where women’s bodies are no longer their own, but are instead governed by the state.” The photographs depict the aftermath of this violence—not in overt confrontation, but in stillness and sorrow. A woman crouches behind a curtain, face obscured, withdrawing into herself. Another sits, her head bowed and hair cascading forward, outside a rural home—her posture unmistakably steeped in despair and exhaustion. These scenes do not scream—they linger with quiet rage.
“The stripping away of the right to make decisions about our own reproductive health echoes a troubling history of systemic control over women’s lives and bodies,” she continues. “As women, we have fought for decades to have control over our reproductive choices, understanding that this right is inextricably linked to our ability to participate fully in society—politically, economically, and socially. The decision to start a family, or not, is deeply personal and should remain within the hands of the individual, not dictated by external forces.” American Dreams becomes a meditation on that loss—a personal yet universal reckoning.
This emotional terrain is familiar ground for Cesarine, whose entire body of work challenges institutional silencing. Through the lens of her camera and the charged glow of her neon sculptures, she constructs new mythologies—ones that reclaim space for female agency and confront dangerous political rhetoric. Her feminist neon installation EQUAL MEANS EQUAL radiates like a beacon of solidarity, its hot pink glow both seductive and confrontational. Featuring a merged gender symbol—blending male, female, trans, and nonbinary identities—its fierce visual presence demands justice, affirming that equality must transcend all definitions.
“At its core, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL is about visibility,” she explains. “Radiating power, protest, and pride through the medium of light, it illuminates the inequities that persist, using art as protest. This unifying symbol asserts that every human—regardless of sex, gender identity, or expression—is entitled to equal rights, dignity, and recognition.” Created in 2017, the work emerged in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election—a time when hard-won rights were suddenly under threat, and communities found themselves once again in the trenches of activism. The piece feels tragically timely once more. “Today, the work resonates even more profoundly as Trump once again rises to power on a platform that openly threatens the rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and trans communities. His rhetoric and actions have emboldened discrimination, eroded protections, and fanned the flames of inequality. The sculpture speaks not only to the present but to the generations who have fought before and those who continue to rise. It is a reminder that equality is not a radical demand, but a fundamental human right.”
Born from a lineage of resistance, Cesarine’s creative life began early. By the age of sixteen, she had her first solo exhibition at the Paul Mellon Arts Center. At eighteen, she was already working professionally for top modeling agencies while pursuing a triple major in Art History, French, and Women’s Studies at Columbia University. Her artistic practice matured in London, where she was commissioned by titles such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and GQ—but she never lost sight of the deeper potential of image-making. While her early commercial success could have defined her, she instead redirected her focus toward feminist expression and art as activism.
Her work has since been exhibited at major institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Watermill Center, Hudson Valley MOCA, Mattatuck Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, as well as at Art Basel Miami and SCOPE Art fair. But Cesarine is not content with accolades—her drive is transformational. She founded not only The Untitled Space but also Art4Equality, a nonprofit initiative supporting gender equality through the arts. As editor-in-chief of The Untitled Magazine, she has shaped the publication into a dynamic platform for inspirational voices across art, culture, fashion, and entertainment.
“I always envisioned a gallery where the work on display could be a vehicle for activism, dialogue, and social change,” Cesarine reflects. “The gallery’s name, ‘Untitled,’ reflects that idea—art doesn’t have to be boxed into a specific title or category, it’s about the power of expression and the message it conveys.”
Her curatorial vision has always been fiercely intersectional. What began as a feminist space quickly evolved into a platform for broader representation—embracing LGBTQ+ voices, artists of color, and others too often excluded. “As the gallery evolved over the last decade, the narrative evolved to include marginalized artists as a whole… not just women artists,” she notes. Early exhibitions like The F Word: Feminism in Art were seen as radical at the time—though now they appear prescient, anticipating the broader cultural reckoning still unfolding.
That sense of urgency—and vision—runs through ONLY YOU (UKRAINE), another of Cesarine’s powerful works featured in UPRISE 2025. The image, which layers the anguished face of a woman with the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, fuses individual trauma with geopolitical catastrophe. “This piece was created as a visceral response to the catastrophic destruction inflicted upon Ukraine by Putin’s war,” she explains. “The original image, which captures raw human emotion, becomes a universal portrait of suffering and the silencing of truth.”
She directly calls out Donald Trump for “gaslighting” the American public by shifting blame onto Ukraine for a war launched by Russia. “ONLY YOU (UKRAINE) is my cry of solidarity with the people of Ukraine… a reminder of the power of visual art to bear witness, to challenge injustice, and to amplify voices that are too often drowned out by the noise of misinformation.”
As both artist and curator, Cesarine’s strength lies in her dual fluency—channeling personal emotion into a collective statement, while building platforms for others to do the same. “I almost see my work as a curator as part of my artwork,” she explains. “My work is so focused on the female experience, as well as addressing narratives of empowerment. I believe that as a curator, I’m extending my work as an artist to include other artists.” That synergy is central to UPRISE 2025, where shared themes of justice, identity, and resistance unite a powerful community of artists.
That synergy defines UPRISE 2025—at once a retrospective and a rallying cry. “This landmark exhibition features 100 artists whose works challenge societal injustices and envision a future founded on justice, equality, and freedom,” she notes. “As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Untitled Space, I’m incredibly proud to reflect on our journey.”
Since its founding, Cesarine has produced and curated over 50 exhibitions at The Untitled Space, showcasing the work of more than 500 artists. Under her leadership, the gallery has become a powerful voice for change—partnering with nonprofits to raise awareness and funds for critical causes including reproductive justice, immigrant rights, and LGBTQ+ equality. In December 2024, she expanded that vision with the launch of The Untitled Boutique, a platform for sustainable wearable art collections featuring exclusive collaborations with artists alongside her own designs—blurring the boundaries between fine art, fashion, and activism.
As an artist, she continues to advocate for social change through both her creative practice and philanthropic efforts. Her artwork is also featured in an ongoing Artist In Residence solo exhibition at The Parlor NYC on Madison Avenue, where it has been on view since 2020. Over the past year alone, she has contributed to several major fundraising exhibitions and benefit auctions, including FUTURE VISION, a public art billboard exhibit presented by SaveArtSpace, the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation Gala Benefit Exhibit + Auction supporting cancer research, ARTWALK NY for the Coalition for the Homeless, and the Take Home A Nude auction at Sotheby’s New York supporting the New York Academy of Art. Her continued presence in these philanthropic platforms reflects her commitment to using art not only as a form of activism but also as a tangible means of support for critical causes.
That ethos extends through her nonprofit, Art4Equality, which she founded to support gender equality and social justice through the arts. The initiative has produced exhibitions, public art installations, and awareness campaigns amplifying underrepresented voices. In 2025, she will launch the Art4Equality Prize, providing funding, visibility, and opportunities for artists creating work centered on equity and cultural transformation.
“I feel like this is a very urgent time in this country,” Cesarine says. “It’s a time for everyone to respond, and for artists in particular to get out there and make artwork that challenges what is going on in this country with the current administration’s political agenda.”
This urgency, however, is matched by unwavering hope. Cesarine’s work—steeped in defiance—also pulses with belief in the power of visibility, expression, and action. Her neon sculptures glow with conviction. Her photographs ache with truth. Her exhibitions uplift voices too often ignored. Through it all, she reminds us: art is not a luxury or distraction—it is a powerful tool for change.
Indira Cesarine’s creative vision extends far beyond the boundaries of her own artwork—it is a catalyst for cultural transformation. Through her multidisciplinary practice, she celebrates women’s history while illuminating broader themes of equality and justice. Her founding of The Untitled Space and Art4Equality has amplified that mission, creating platforms that empower underrepresented voices. Whether through a lens, a sculpture, or a curated exhibition, Cesarine’s work is a declaration: art can challenge power, ignite change, and inspire action.
