Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Jordan Casteel

          Jordan Casteel was born in Denver Colorado in 1989. Denver was a city that gave her a great nature background compared to the New York City life she is now used to. She was born in an artistic family and was exposed to art her entire life. Everything and everyone around her inspired to draw, paint, and create art. Not knowing if art can make a living for her, she still decided to go to Agnes Scott in Georgia. From studying abroad in Italy to teaching in America, Casteel found another passion in education and social justice. Writing lesson plans and painting was not enough for her. She then decided to go to graduate school for painting in order to truly be happy with the career she always wanted.

          Getting into an art program in Yale University changed her life forever. After graduating in 2014 she had her own shows and moved to New York City. She then moved to Harlem when her work was put in the Studio Museum of Harlem. Around this time, the shooting of Trayvon Martin occurred. It was at that point when she was inspired to represent black men in her paintings. She started off painting her twin brother's best friend who was also her first crush. She focused on details such as his Nike hat and Nike shirt and the sneakers he had on. Rather than viewers seeing the humanity in her painting, they thought it was explicitly black. Many critics gave her negative feedback on her work and it only made her paint black men even more. Not to mention a female painting the male body was not taken well. However Casteel thought it was perfectly fine since it has always been the other way around.

As Greg Tate told her during her brother's exhibition, "Sister, you are the queen at capturing the souls of brothers".

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