Color in Shadow

Posted on May 3, 2020 by JMN

Jordan Casteel’s paintings come at you. There’s no subordination. They are like a roomful of stories told all at once.

“Jonathan” (2014). Lit by a nearby lamp, his body glows with patches of red, green and yellow. Credit… Jordan Casteel and Casey Kaplan, New York.

One figure hides in his colorful skin; two others iridesce, starkly defined. Sofas riot; a hot mirrored lamp commandeers its swatch of space. No crease of flesh nor fold of drapery escapes scrupulous modeling. Uncentered subjects in scenarios “awash with color and pattern… let their surroundings complete the picture.”

“Serwaa and Amoakohene” (2019), Jordan Casteel’s painting of a young man and his mother, in the exhibition “Within Reach.” Credit… Jordan Casteel and Casey Kaplan, New York.

(Jillian Steinhauer, “Portraits That More Than Meet the Eye,” NYTimes, 4-29-20)

(c) 2020 JMN

About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
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