ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION
January 28 – July 8, 2017
Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes is an exhibition of recent paintings by Harlem based artist, Jordan Casteel. The exhibition combines her exterior portraits with details that explore intimacy and the document.
Each painting hints toward a treasure trove of stories and memories shared between Casteel and 
her subject. Perhaps as much autobiographical as observational, Casteel - s paintings are imbued with the tenderness of her gaze. Family, neighbors, patrons – all enter her studio via a photographic snapshot captured in the specificity of their space before being projected in paint onto the surface that immortalizes. Resting with grandeur on the canvas, the subjects penetrate in a scale that is just slightly larger than life.
Through color, Casteel both embraces and push backs against signifiers of blackness revealing a multiplicity in tone and hue that feels supernatural in it - s matter-of-factness. Offering a chromatic spectrum that mirrors the complexity of being and circumvents any cingular reading, these works tease what is familiar while chronicling what is lived in that very moment.
Building a tapestry of structure and dimension through a weaving of loose and tightly knit brush strokes, Cateel builds upon the canvas - plain surface an orchestra of color and texture. With the application of paint not unlike the caress of a familiar hand.
To learn more about this exhibit, click here.