Jordan Casteel is an American painter who was born in 1989 in Denver, Colorado. In 2011, she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in studio art from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA and in 2014, she got a Master’s in painting and printmaking from Yale. She worked as a teacher in Colorado before deciding to move to New York and become a full time artist. Today, she lives in Harlem, NY and is a full time painter.
Jordan is very passionate about social justice and equality which is also the message of her artwork. She wants to challenge the stereotypical ideas of black masculinity through her paintings. She started off by painting family members, friends, and boyfriends in hopes of people changing their perceptions of African American stereotypes and what people think a man has to be. She takes over 200 photos of her subjects to use as references in her portraits, and now, most of her subjects are people that she meets on the streets in her neighborhood of Harlem. Her works show the men in bright colors to depict them in a happy, inviting way. She also often paints them nude and in more vulnerable positions.
“I needed to find a way to combine my desire to create a sense of visibility around my family and my brothers that was feeling absent at the time.”
Casteel has had artist residencies at many museums including the Studio Museum of Harlem and in February of this year she will have a solo exhibition at the Denver Art Museum in Colorado.
Barbershop, 72 x 54 in, oil on canvas, 2015.
Devan, oil on canvas, 74 x 54 in, 2014.
Elijah, oil on canvas, 52 x 72 in, 2013.
Ato, oil on canvas, 72 x 54 in, 2014.
Sterling, oil on canvas, 54 x 72 in, 2014.