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拍品专文
A vision of intimacy on a staggering scale, Noor and Adam (2021) is an electrifying double portrait by Jordan Casteel. Upon a blue chest in a lush garden, a young man and woman sit in peaceful repose, their hands lovingly entwined. Golden spring light illuminates the leaves and water behind them; their skin is dappled with peach, mauve and olive tones. Shot through with the influence of Henri Matisse and Alice Neel, the work lavishes attention upon every detail: from delicate folds of fabric, to the gnarled textures of bark and the intricacies of jewellery and clothes. Part of a body of work devoted to capturing the passage of seasons and time, the painting demonstrates the vivid emotive language for which Casteel is celebrated. The artist depicts friends, family and unassuming figures from her local neighbourhood, elevating them to spectacular, near-spiritual proportions. In the present work—a portrait of a couple who lived near the artist—she captures the subtle magic of existing in another’s presence.
Casteel was deeply affected by the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, and gained early recognition for her tenderly-observed portraits of Black men. As her practice has evolved, she has depicted people from a variety of social contexts, immersing herself in their personalities and stories. Casteel was raised in a family of activists and pioneers, and channels something of this spirit through her art. ‘Long before I became Jordan Casteel the painter,’ she notes, ‘I was Jordan Casteel who understood the value of everyday stories and people and creating voices for people and room for people’ (J. Casteel, quoted in ‘Meet Denver-Born Artist Jordan Casteel’, Visit Denver, 21 February 2019, online). Her works seek to cherish their subjects through paint: to depoliticise their identities and celebrate their humanity. This approach propelled her to critical acclaim throughout the late 2010s. The year before the present work she mounted a major exhibition at the New Museum, New York, and was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2021.
Casteel works from extensive photographs of her subjects, often merging together elements from different shots. Speaking of the present work, she explains that ‘The photography is really just a reference material … Oftentimes I’m taking multiple photographs at once so that I can remember a moment but I’m not trying to define a moment. The definition comes when I’m in front of the canvas and I’m sketching out on to the frame what it is that I see as the best composition for what I am trying to translate for the viewer. So for example in [Noor and Adam] there were a lot of different trees … and I zoomed in but then also chose a background where I thought that I could capture this waterfall and this cliff in the background. They had these balls floating in the lake, and I thought it was really great if they could have an opportunity to feel personalised, that they could come in and recognise things, even if the viewer doesn’t. So as a painter I see photography as just a stepping stone for me to explore the greater questions of what it means to build a composition that tells a story’ (J. Casteel, video interview for There is a Season, Massimo de Carlo, London, 2021, online).
Casteel was deeply affected by the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, and gained early recognition for her tenderly-observed portraits of Black men. As her practice has evolved, she has depicted people from a variety of social contexts, immersing herself in their personalities and stories. Casteel was raised in a family of activists and pioneers, and channels something of this spirit through her art. ‘Long before I became Jordan Casteel the painter,’ she notes, ‘I was Jordan Casteel who understood the value of everyday stories and people and creating voices for people and room for people’ (J. Casteel, quoted in ‘Meet Denver-Born Artist Jordan Casteel’, Visit Denver, 21 February 2019, online). Her works seek to cherish their subjects through paint: to depoliticise their identities and celebrate their humanity. This approach propelled her to critical acclaim throughout the late 2010s. The year before the present work she mounted a major exhibition at the New Museum, New York, and was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2021.
Casteel works from extensive photographs of her subjects, often merging together elements from different shots. Speaking of the present work, she explains that ‘The photography is really just a reference material … Oftentimes I’m taking multiple photographs at once so that I can remember a moment but I’m not trying to define a moment. The definition comes when I’m in front of the canvas and I’m sketching out on to the frame what it is that I see as the best composition for what I am trying to translate for the viewer. So for example in [Noor and Adam] there were a lot of different trees … and I zoomed in but then also chose a background where I thought that I could capture this waterfall and this cliff in the background. They had these balls floating in the lake, and I thought it was really great if they could have an opportunity to feel personalised, that they could come in and recognise things, even if the viewer doesn’t. So as a painter I see photography as just a stepping stone for me to explore the greater questions of what it means to build a composition that tells a story’ (J. Casteel, video interview for There is a Season, Massimo de Carlo, London, 2021, online).