Jordan Casteel

{{Infobox artist

| honorific_prefix =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1989}}

| field = Painting

| nationality = American

| birth_place = Denver, Colorado

| education = Agnes Scott College (BA)
Yale School of Art (MFA)

| awards = MacArthur Fellow

}}

Jordan Casteel (born 1989) is an American figurative painter. She typically paints portraits of friends and family members as well as neighbors and strangers in Harlem and New York.{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/jordan-casteel-nights-in-harlem-1099289|title=Jordan Casteel Googled 'Best MFA Program.' Four Years Later, the Yale Grad Is a Rising Art Star|date=2017-10-13|work=artnet News|access-date=2017-11-20|language=en-US}} Casteel lives and works in New York City.{{Cite news|url=https://art21.org/artist/jordan-casteel/?gclid=CjwKCAiArrrQBRBbEiwAH_6sNJgEDvc4fUQEv35hXHolcf4XsxVOX_jl8YGkuiFj1exCS2BXWyg_QRoCCT8QAvD_BwE|title=Jordan Casteel — Art21|work=Art21|access-date=2017-11-17|language=en}}

Early life and education

Casteel was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1989 to Lauren Young Casteel and Charles Casteel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/jordan-casteel-interview-denver-art-museum|title=In Her First Solo Museum Show, Jordan Casteel's Humanizing Portraits Get Even Closer|date=15 January 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://art21.org/artist/jordan-casteel/?gclid=CjwKCAiArrrQBRBbEiwAH_6sNJgEDvc4fUQEv35hXHolcf4XsxVOX_jl8YGkuiFj1exCS2BXWyg_QRoCCT8QAvD_BwE|title=Jordan Casteel|work=Art21|access-date=2018-01-17|language=en}}{{cite book |title=Great Women Artists |year=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=92}} She has a twin brother and an older brother. She was named after Vernon E. Jordan Jr, who succeeded her grandfather Whitney Young as head of the National Urban League and was a close family friend. Her grandmother was Margaret Buckner Young, an educator and children's-book author.{{Cite news|url=https://nyc.moma.org/jordan-casteel-ab8c0fd26d9d|title=Jordan Casteel – Creative New York|date=2016-04-12|work=Creative New York|access-date=2017-11-21}}

Artists Romare Bearden, Hale Woodruff, Faith Ringgold, Charles White, and Jacob Lawrence were significant influences while growing up.

Casteel studied at Lamar Dodd School of Art at University of Georgia in Cortona, Italy in 2010 and graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, in 2011. She went on to receive her Master in Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking at Yale University in 2014.{{Cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/id=52927|title=Studio Museum in Harlem Announces Artists in Residence for 2015-16|work=artforum.com|access-date=2017-11-20|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165239/https://www.artforum.com/news/id=52927|url-status=dead}} She participated in several group exhibitions while at Yale, including 13 Artists, a historic show curated by then-classmate Awol Erizku.{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qbezp7/yale-university-is-having-its-first-all-black-art-show|title=Yale University Is Having Its First All-Black Art Show|date=2014-04-17|work=Vice|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-us}}

Work

After graduating from Yale, Casteel moved to New York City to pursue painting. Her first solo exhibition in New York, titled Visible Man, opened in August 2014 at Sargent's Daughters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sargentsdaughters.com/exhibitions/jordan-casteel|title=Jordan Casteel - Exhibitions - Sargent's Daughters|website=www.sargentsdaughters.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-20|archive-date=2017-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108043413/http://www.sargentsdaughters.com/exhibitions/jordan-casteel|url-status=dead}} The show featured several large-scale paintings depicting mostly nude black men seated in various spaces throughout their homes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/jordan-casteel-visible-man|title=Jordan Casteel|work=Time Out New York|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en}} The show explored the balance between sexuality and sensuality, both in her subjects and the viewers.

Casteel was selected as a 2015-2016 artist-in-residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, alongside EJ Hill and Jibade-Khalil Huffman.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studiomuseum.org/event/lea-k-green-artist-talk/1497481200|title=Lea K. Green Artist Talk {{!}} Jordan Casteel|website=www.studiomuseum.org|access-date=2017-11-17|archive-date=2018-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112014102/https://www.studiomuseum.org/event/lea-k-green-artist-talk/1497481200|url-status=dead}} The program gives artists a year-long studio space, fellowship grant, stipend for materials, and group exhibition that includes all of the artists-in-residence.{{Cite news|url=https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/bmye74/studio-museum-harlem-newest-artists-residence|title=Meet Harlem's Newest Artists-in-Residence|date=2016-08-06|work=Creators|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-us}}

Casteel's second solo exhibition, titled Brothers, opened in October 2015 at Sargent's Daughters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sargentsdaughters.com/exhibitions/jordan-casteel2|title=Jordan Casteel - Exhibitions - Sargent's Daughters|website=www.sargentsdaughters.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-21|archive-date=2017-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013112322/http://www.sargentsdaughters.com/exhibitions/jordan-casteel2|url-status=dead}} The show contained eight large-scale paintings of dual-portraits and were produced as part of a residency at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's “Process Space” on Governor's Island.{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/jordan-casteel-brothers|title=Jordan Casteel, "Brothers"|work=Time Out New York|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnews.com/2015/10/13/9-art-events-to-attend-in-new-york-city-this-week-37/|title=9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week|date=2015-10-13|website=ARTnews|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-21}} Curator Johanna Fateman reviewed the work favorably, noting of Casteel's figures that, "she achieves their diorama-like magnetism with subtle perspectival distortions and a synergy of textures."{{Cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/picks/id=55740|title=Jordan Casteel at Sargent's Daughters|last=Fateman|first=Johanna|work=artforum.com|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-US}}

Casteel's third solo exhibition, Nights in Harlem, opened at Casey Kaplan in September 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://caseykaplangallery.com/cat/exhibitions/jordan-casteel/|title=Jordan Casteel: Nights in Harlem {{!}} Casey Kaplan|website=caseykaplangallery.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-21|archive-date=2017-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023112139/http://caseykaplangallery.com/cat/exhibitions/jordan-casteel/|url-status=dead}} The show continued her exploration of black male subjectivity but positioned her subjects in "complex interiors and urban environments."{{Cite web|url=https://newamericanpaintings.com/blog/17-artists-2-watch-2017|title=New American Paintings|website=newamericanpaintings.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-21}} The show was met with critical praise; in New York magazine, critic Jerry Saltz wrote, "Casteel seems prepared to take a rightful place on the front lines of contemporary painting," and writer Tausif Noor wrote in Artforum, "Casteel navigates her terrain with ease, lightness, and empathy."{{Cite news|url=http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/three-sentence-reviews-peter-saul-trevor-paglen-and-7-more.html|title=Three-Sentence Reviews: Peter Saul, Trevor Paglen, and 7 More|last=Saltz|first=Jerry|work=Vulture|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/picks/id=71339|title=Jordan Casteel at Casey Kaplan|last=Noor|first=Tausif|work=artforum.com|access-date=2017-11-21|language=en-US}}

Casteel's first major solo exhibition at a museum was at the Denver Art Museum opened in February 2019. It features approximately thirty paintings spanning over four years from 2014 to 2018, where she portrayed several subjects from her neighborhood in Harlem.{{cite web |title=Denver Art Museum Presents First Major Museum Exhibition Dedicated to Jordan Casteel, Denver Art Museum |url=https://denverartmuseum.org/article/press-release/denver-art-museum-presents-first-major-museum-exhibition-dedicated-jordan-casteel |website=denverartmuseum.org |access-date=2018-07-16 |archive-date=2018-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717014318/https://denverartmuseum.org/article/press-release/denver-art-museum-presents-first-major-museum-exhibition-dedicated-jordan-casteel |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=EVENTS:MoCA LA .Jordan Casteel on One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art |url=https://www.jordancasteel.com/upcoming |website=Jordan Casteel |access-date=2018-07-16 |archive-date=2018-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013010/https://www.jordancasteel.com/upcoming |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Amadour |first=Ricky |date=September 7, 2022 |title=Don't Miss These 10 New York Art Shows |url=https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2022/09/07/10-new-york-fall-shows-2022 |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=www.culturedmag.com |language=en}}

In 2020, Casteel painted a portrait of fashion designer Aurora James for one of the September 2020 covers of Vogue magazine.{{cite news |last1=Kazanjian |first1=Dodie |title=The Making of Vogue's September 2020 Covers |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/september-issue-cover-2020-global-hope |access-date=25 December 2020 |work=Vogue |date=August 25, 2020}} Jordan Casteel: Within Reach, her first major New York City museum solo show, opened in February 2020 at the New Museum.{{Cite web|title=Jordan Casteel: Within Reach|url=http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/jordan-casteel-within-reach|access-date=2021-02-11|website=www.newmuseum.org|language=en}} In 2021, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.{{cite web | title=MacArthur Foundation Announces 2021 'Genius' Grant Winners | website=The New York Times | date=September 28, 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/arts/macarthur-foundation-announces-2021-genius-grant-winners.html | access-date=September 28, 2021}}

Casteel's work was included in the 2022 exhibition Women Painting Women at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.{{cite web |title=Women Painting Women |url=https://www.themodern.org/exhibition/women-painting-women |website=Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth |access-date=14 May 2022 |language=en}} The painting Lourdes and Katrina (2019) is featured in the permanent collection of Pérez Art Museum Miami.{{Cite web |title=Scholl Lecture Series Presented by Goldman Sachs: Jordan Casteel • Pérez Art Museum Miami |url=https://www.pamm.org/en/event/scholl-lecture-series-presented-by-goldman-sachs-jordan-casteel |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Pérez Art Museum Miami |language=en-US}}

= Themes and style =

Casteel's practice explores humanity, sexuality, identity, and subjectivity.{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4w7zyg/post-black-art-in-the-age-of-hip-hop-123|title=Post-Black Art in the Age of Hip-Hop|date=2014-12-12|work=Vice|access-date=2017-11-20|language=en-us}} She has almost exclusively painted black subjects, often in varying skin tones based on the light surrounding the sitter from the photographs she takes of her sitters. Subjects have been painted in varying shades of browns, greys, lime greens, navy blues, and light oranges.{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnews.com/2016/12/15/casey-kaplan-gallery-now-represents-jordan-casteel/|title=Casey Kaplan Now Represents Jordan Casteel|last=Greenberger|first=Alex|date=2016-12-15|website=ARTnews|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-20}}

Casteel's painterly approach and bold use of color have been compared to painters Jacob Lawrence, Nancy Spero, and Henri Matisse. The palettes Casteel develops in her work are both based on an obsessive relationship with color and vibrancy founded in her childhood, and a determination to push the boundaries of interpretation. She experiments with the effects her colors have on the environments she paints and their relation to her subjects. Throughout her collection of work, the viewer can observe a wealth of colors representing the skin tones of her subjects alone. Casteel's posing and gaze of the subjects in her paintings are just as integral as her relationship with color as she attempts to push the dialogue of blackness.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2016/08/10/jordan-casteel-artist-interview|title=This Artist Wants You To See The Fullness Of Black Men's Lives|website=The FADER|language=en|access-date=2019-03-16}} Casteel's figurative works have also been compared to New York artist Alice Neel.{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/jordan-casteel-visible-man|title=Jordan Casteel|work=Time Out New York|access-date=2017-11-20|language=en}}

Casteel's work comes from photographs she takes of her subjects. She aims to nudge the viewer's thoughts considering what meaning lies behind being a black man in the U.S. today. In an interview with studio international, Jordan stated, "The intent of the paintings is to expose my vision of black men as a sister, daughter, friend and lover. That perspective is one full of empathy and love. I see their humanity and, in turn, I want the audience to engage with them as fathers, sons, brothers, cousins – as individuals with their own unique stories to share."{{Cite web|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/jordan-casteel-interview-brothers-black-man-in-our-times|title=Jordan Casteel: 'My perspective is one full of empathy and love'|last=Biswas|first=Allie|website=Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-03-16}}

= Teaching =

Casteel is an Assistant Professor of Painting in the Department of Arts, Culture, and Media at Rutgers University - Newark.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/jordan-casteel|title=Profile: Jordan Casteel |publisher=Rutgers–Newark Colleges of Arts & Sciences|language=en|access-date=2018-01-17|archive-date=2018-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131609/https://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/jordan-casteel|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

Casteel lives in Harlem with her husband David Schulze, an Australian-born photographer she met on the dating app Raya. She has lupus and noted that the condition was especially difficult during her graduate studies.

Exhibitions

Casteel has staged solo shows, exhibitions, and public art installations at galleries and museums in the United States. Her notable solo shows include Visible Man (2014), Sargent's Daughters Gallery, New York;{{cite web |title=Visible Man |url=https://www.sargentsdaughters.com/jordan-casteel-visible-man |website=Sargent's Daughters |publisher=Sargent's Daughters Gallery |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829032700/https://www.sargentsdaughters.com/jordan-casteel-visible-man |archive-date=29 August 2022 |url-status=live}} Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes (2017), Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, North Carolina;{{cite web |title=Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes |url=https://www.ganttcenter.org/exhibitions/jordan-casteel-harlem-notes/ |website=GanttCenter |date=28 January 2017 |publisher=Harvey B. Gantt Center |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702170821/https://www.ganttcenter.org/exhibitions/jordan-casteel-harlem-notes/ |archive-date=2 July 2022 |url-status=live}} Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze (2019-2020), originating at the Denver Art Museum;{{cite web |title=Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze |url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/jordan-casteel-returning-gaze |website=DAM |publisher=Denver Art Museum |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128165255/https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/jordan-casteel-returning-gaze |archive-date=28 January 2022 |url-status=live}} The Baayfalls (2019-2022), High Line, New York;{{cite web |title=The Baayfalls |url=https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/jordan-casteel/ |website=High Line |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031081526/https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/jordan-casteel/ |archive-date=31 October 2022 |url-status=live}} and Jordan Casteel: Within Reach (2020), New Museum, New York.{{cite web |title=Jordan Casteel: Within Reach |url=https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/jordan-casteel-within-reach |website=New Museum |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122032516/https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/jordan-casteel-within-reach |archive-date=22 November 2022 |url-status=live}}

Notable works in public collections

The Baayfalls (2017), Museum of Modern Art, New York{{cite web |title=The Baayfalls |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/419813? |website=MoMA |publisher=Museum of Modern Art |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025215326/https://www.moma.org/collection/works/419813 |archive-date=25 October 2022 |url-status=live}}
Kevin the Kiteman (2017), Studio Museum in Harlem, New York{{cite web |title=Kevin the Kiteman |url=https://studiomuseum.org/collection-item/kevin-kiteman |website=StudioMuseum |date=27 November 2018 |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701110400/https://studiomuseum.org/collection-item/kevin-kiteman |archive-date=1 July 2022 |url-status=live}}
Memorial (2017), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles{{cite web |title=Memorial |url=https://www.moca.org/collection/work/memorial |website=MOCA |publisher=Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419175022/https://www.moca.org/collection/work/memorial |archive-date=19 April 2022 |url-status=live}}
Flight (2018), Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, California{{cite web |title=Flight |url=http://cantorcollection.stanford.edu/objects-1/info/82722?sort=0 |website=Cantor Center |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209140548/http://cantorcollection.stanford.edu/objects-1/info/82722?sort=0 |archive-date=9 December 2022 |url-status=live}}
Ourlando (2018), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas{{cite web |title=Ourlando |url=https://collection.crystalbridges.org/objects/9624/ourlando? |website=CrystalBridges |publisher=Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208072924/https://collection.crystalbridges.org/objects/9624/ourlando |archive-date=8 December 2020 |url-status=live}}
Shirley (Spa Boutique2go) (2018), Rollins Museum of Art, Winter Park, Florida{{cite web |title=Artists C-E |url=https://www.rollins.edu/rma/collection/alfond/artists-ce.html#JordanCasteel |website=Rollins Museum of Art |publisher=Rollins College |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209140657/https://www.rollins.edu/rma/collection/alfond/artists-ce.html |archive-date=9 December 2022 |url-status=live}}
Sylvia's (Taniedra, Kendra, Bedelia, Crizette, De'Sean) (2018), Denver Art Museum{{cite web |title=Sylvia's (Taniedra, Kendra, Bedelia, Brizette, De'Sean) |url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2019.20 |website=DAM |publisher=Denver Art Museum |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209140936/https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2019.20 |archive-date=9 December 2022 |url-status=live}}
Lourdes and Katrina (2019), Pérez Art Museum Miami{{cite web |title=Scholl Lecture Series |url=https://www.pamm.org/en/event/scholl-lecture-series-presented-by-goldman-sachs-jordan-casteel/ |website=PAMM |date=23 February 2023 |publisher=Pérez Art Museum Miami |access-date=11 April 2023}}
Barack (2020), Art Institute of Chicago{{cite web |title=Barack |url=https://www.artic.edu/artworks/260037/barack |website=ArtIC |publisher=Art Institute of Chicago |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307171944/https://www.artic.edu/artworks/260037/barack |archive-date=7 March 2022 |url-status=live}}
Chano Pozo (2021), Whitney Museum, New York{{cite web |title=Chano Pozo |url=https://whitney.org/collection/works/64865 |website=Whitney Museum |access-date=20 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203135954/https://whitney.org/collection/works/64865 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |url-status=live}}
Yvonne and James II (2021), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York{{cite web |title=Yvonne and James II |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/852271? |website=MetMuseum |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020162915/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/852271 |archive-date=20 October 2022 |url-status=live}}

References

Category:1989 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century African-American women

Category:21st-century American painters

Category:African-American painters

Category:African-American contemporary artists

Category:American contemporary painters

Category:African-American women artists

Category:Agnes Scott College alumni

Category:Artists from Denver

Category:Painters from Colorado

Category:MacArthur Fellows

Category:Yale School of Art alumni

Category:21st-century American women painters