“I want my work to feel both opulent and raw — existing in harmony. By juxtaposing discarded materials with ones more traditionally beautiful, the overlooked and discarded are given a new lease on life." 

— Charlie Nesi

Charlie Nesi [NY, 1987] is a New York native who's lived and worked in Mexico City for nearly a decade, he’s drawn endless inspiration from the city’s visual landscape, both architecturally and culturally. His practice is deeply shaped by the physicality of urban transformation and the materials that define societal change. For Nesi, materials act as metaphors, reflecting value systems where what is discarded reveals our collective priorities.

Nesi’s most recent show, Homage, draws its technique from craft traditions that are integral to Mexico’s workforce, sewing and welding. Working out of a parking-garage-turned-studio in collaboration with a local atelier, the artist pushed the boundaries of his practice by giving traditionally raw or rugged materials “a new lease on life”. He employs diverse aesthetic strategies and mediums—including sculpture, architecture and design. In-process, Nesi explored tensions between fluidity and stasis, Arte Povera and Minimalism; the flux from the decayed to the pristine. His artworks test aesthetic norms and critique contemporary social structures by juxtaposing sleek, familiar shapes alongside unconventional forms.

Homage is central to Nesi’s creative ethos — balancing tradition while challenging the status quo. Conceptually, the suite of works builds on themes of death, opulence and atypical beauty, deeply inspired by the recent passing of his mother, which he commemorates in the tradition of Mexico’s vibrant celebration of death. The body of work explores the beauty found through the exercise of contrast, materials like polished steel and decayed materials are juxtaposed, battling traditional value hierarchies, elevating the flawed alongside the pristine. 

The piece titled “Her”, features a sculptural depiction of a vagina, embodying motifs of repurpose and rebirth. By transforming discarded materials into a symbol of creation and life, the work speaks to the generative power of new purpose, renewal and beauty. Nesi reimagines decay and death as something beautiful and sacred.

Through Homage, Nesi invites you to reconsider what we deem valuable while embracing a more expansive, nuanced perspective on beauty, impermanence, and transformation.

]PDF CATALOGUE[

]CV HIGHLIGHTS[

• 2025 - HOMAGE - FURIOSA CDMX, ZONA MACO 2025

• 2024 - NDUCAV - FURIOSA  CDMX, STA MARIA LA RIBERA

• 2024 - ECP - FURIOSA  NYC, SOHO

• 2024 - TEST ZONE III  FURIOSA - CDMX, ROMA NTE

• 2024 - CTVIS - FURIOSA  CDMX, ZONA MACO 2024

• 2023 - CONSTRUCTS    CDMX, SAN MIGUEL CHAPULTEPEC

• 2022 - CATHARSIS - QUERETARO, MACQ MUSEUM

]PRESS HIGHLIGHTS[

• GQ https://www.gq.com.mx/estilo-de-vida/articulo/constructs-exposicion-charlie-nesi-carlos-zedillo-velasco

• MILENIO https://www.mrevistademilenio.com/articulos/charlie-nesi%3A-la-evoluci%C3%B3n-de-lo-material 

• MATTE PROJECTS https://matteprojects.com/editorial/charli-nesi-sculptor-modern-materiality 

• WHITEWALL ART https://whitewall.art/whitewaller/charlie-nesi-catharsis/ 

]EVENTS[

• ZONA MACO - HOMAGE BY CHARLIE NESI

   [Centro CitiBanamex]

++ booth D103, main section   

++ main section 

// february 5-9 

// 12:00--20:00 

• NESI STUDIO - PRIVATE VISIT

   [Roma Nte]

++ by invitation only

// february 6

// dates & time TBA

• MONDRIAN HOTEL - FURIOSA + HILARIO GALGUERA

   [Condesa]

++ various activations

++ MACO’s official hotel

// february 5-9 

// times TBA

• CASA WYNWOOD - DINNER + GALLERY PARTY 

   [Roma Nte]

++ by invitation only

// feb 4

// 19:30 - 02:30