Jordan Casteel

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Jordan Casteel
Born1989 (age 35–36)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationAgnes Scott College (BA)
Yale School of Art (MFA)
OccupationFigurative painter
Known forPainting
AwardsMacArthur 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.[1] Casteel lives and works in New York City.[2]

Early life and education

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Casteel was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1989 to Lauren Young Casteel and Charles Casteel.[3][4][5] 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.[3][6]

Artists Romare Bearden, Hale Woodruff, Faith Ringgold, Charles White, and Jacob Lawrence were significant influences while growing up.[6]

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.[7] She participated in several group exhibitions while at Yale, including 13 Artists, a historic show curated by then-classmate Awol Erizku.[8]

Work

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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.[9] The show featured several large-scale paintings depicting mostly nude black men seated in various spaces throughout their homes.[10] The show explored the balance between sexuality and sensuality, both in her subjects and the viewers.[10]

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.[11] 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.[7][12]

Casteel's second solo exhibition, titled Brothers, opened in October 2015 at Sargent's Daughters.[13] 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.[14][15] 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."[16]

Casteel's third solo exhibition, Nights in Harlem, opened at Casey Kaplan in September 2017.[17] The show continued her exploration of black male subjectivity but positioned her subjects in "complex interiors and urban environments."[18] 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."[19][20]

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.[21][22][23]

In 2020, Casteel painted a portrait of fashion designer Aurora James for one of the September 2020 covers of Vogue magazine.[24] Jordan Casteel: Within Reach, her first major New York City museum solo show, opened in February 2020 at the New Museum.[25] In 2021, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.[26]

Casteel's work was included in the 2022 exhibition Women Painting Women at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.[27] The painting Lourdes and Katrina (2019) is featured in the permanent collection of Pérez Art Museum Miami.[28]

Themes and style

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Casteel's practice explores humanity, sexuality, identity, and subjectivity.[29] 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.[30]

Casteel's painterly approach and bold use of color have been compared to painters Jacob Lawrence, Nancy Spero, and Henri Matisse.[9] 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.[31] Casteel's figurative works have also been compared to New York artist Alice Neel.[32]

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."[33]

Teaching

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Casteel is an Assistant Professor of Painting in the Department of Arts, Culture, and Media at Rutgers University - Newark.[34]

Personal life

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Casteel lives in Harlem with her husband David Schulze, an Australian-born photographer she met on the dating app Raya.[3] She has lupus and noted that the condition was especially difficult during her graduate studies.[1]

Exhibitions

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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;[35] Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes (2017), Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, North Carolina;[36] Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze (2019–2020), originating at the Denver Art Museum;[37] The Baayfalls (2019–2022), High Line, New York;[38] Jordan Casteel: Within Reach (2020), New Museum, New York;[39] and Jordan Casteel A Presentation of Works (2025), Ely House, London.[40]

Notable works in public collections

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References

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  1. ^ a b Trouillot, Terence (October 13, 2017). "Jordan Casteel Googled 'Best MFA Program.' Four Years Later, the Yale Grad Is a Rising Art Star". artnet News. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  2. ^ "Jordan Casteel — Art21". Art21. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Kazanjian, Dodie (January 15, 2019). "In Her First Solo Museum Show, Jordan Casteel's Humanizing Portraits Get Even Closer". Vogue.
  4. ^ "Jordan Casteel". Art21. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Great Women Artists. Phaidon Press. 2019. p. 92. ISBN 978-0714878775.
  6. ^ a b "Jordan Casteel – Creative New York". Creative New York. April 12, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Studio Museum in Harlem Announces Artists in Residence for 2015-16". artforum.com. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Barnes, Alexis (April 17, 2014). "Yale University Is Having Its First All-Black Art Show". Vice. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Jordan Casteel - Exhibitions - Sargent's Daughters". www.sargentsdaughters.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Jordan Casteel". Time Out New York. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Lea K. Green Artist Talk | Jordan Casteel". www.studiomuseum.org. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  12. ^ "Meet Harlem's Newest Artists-in-Residence". Creators. August 6, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  13. ^ "Jordan Casteel - Exhibitions - Sargent's Daughters". www.sargentsdaughters.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  14. ^ "Jordan Casteel, "Brothers"". Time Out New York. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week". ARTnews. October 13, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  16. ^ Fateman, Johanna. "Jordan Casteel at Sargent's Daughters". artforum.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  17. ^ "Jordan Casteel: Nights in Harlem | Casey Kaplan". caseykaplangallery.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  18. ^ "New American Paintings". newamericanpaintings.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  19. ^ Saltz, Jerry (September 19, 2017). "Three-Sentence Reviews: Peter Saul's Fake News, Trevor Paglen's Zombie Conceptualism, and 7 More September Shows". Vulture. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  20. ^ Noor, Tausif. "Jordan Casteel at Casey Kaplan". artforum.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  21. ^ "Denver Art Museum Presents First Major Museum Exhibition Dedicated to Jordan Casteel, Denver Art Museum". denverartmuseum.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  22. ^ "EVENTS:MoCA LA .Jordan Casteel on One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art". Jordan Casteel. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  23. ^ Amadour, Ricky (September 7, 2022). "Don't Miss These 10 New York Art Shows". www.culturedmag.com. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  24. ^ Kazanjian, Dodie (August 25, 2020). "The Making of Vogue's September 2020 Covers". Vogue. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  25. ^ "Jordan Casteel: Within Reach". www.newmuseum.org. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  26. ^ Stevens, Matt; Jennifer Schuessler (September 28, 2021). "MacArthur Foundation Announces 2021 'Genius' Grant Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  27. ^ "Women Painting Women". Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  28. ^ "Scholl Lecture Series Presented by Goldman Sachs: Jordan Casteel • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  29. ^ Sargent, Antwaun (December 12, 2014). "Post-Black Art in the Age of Hip-Hop". Vice. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  30. ^ Greenberger, Alex (December 15, 2016). "Casey Kaplan Now Represents Jordan Casteel". ARTnews. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  31. ^ Parham, Jason (August 10, 2016). "This Artist Wants You To See The Fullness Of Black Men's Lives". The FADER. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  32. ^ "Jordan Casteel". Time Out New York. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  33. ^ Biswas, Allie (October 21, 2015). "Jordan Casteel: 'My perspective is one full of empathy and love'". Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  34. ^ "Profile: Jordan Casteel". Rutgers–Newark Colleges of Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  35. ^ "Visible Man". Sargent's Daughters. Sargent's Daughters Gallery. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  36. ^ "Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes". GanttCenter. Harvey B. Gantt Center. January 28, 2017. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  37. ^ "Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze". DAM. Denver Art Museum. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  38. ^ "The Baayfalls". High Line. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  39. ^ "Jordan Casteel: Within Reach". New Museum. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  40. ^ ropac.net https://ropac.net/exhibitions/743-jordan-casteel-a-presentation-of-works/. Retrieved June 3, 2025. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  41. ^ "The Baayfalls". MoMA. Museum of Modern Art. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  42. ^ "Kevin the Kiteman". StudioMuseum. Studio Museum in Harlem. November 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  43. ^ "Memorial". MOCA. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  44. ^ "Flight". Cantor Center. Stanford University. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  45. ^ "Ourlando". CrystalBridges. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  46. ^ "Artists C-E". Rollins Museum of Art. Rollins College. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  47. ^ "Sylvia's (Taniedra, Kendra, Bedelia, Brizette, De'Sean)". DAM. Denver Art Museum. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  48. ^ "Scholl Lecture Series". PAMM. Pérez Art Museum Miami. February 23, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  49. ^ "Barack". ArtIC. Art Institute of Chicago. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  50. ^ "Chano Pozo". Whitney Museum. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  51. ^ "Yvonne and James II". MetMuseum. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.