CYA is excited to announce a private alumni viewing of Jordan Casteel. Returning the Gaze at the Denver Art Museum with the artist and Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Becky Hart, on Wednesday, March 20th, 5:30-7:30 pm (doors open at 5:00). A Denver native, Jordan received her Yale MFA in 2014, and DAM is the first museum to honor her with a one-person show, which has received national attention and praise. So let’s give a rousing homecoming to a fellow Yalie, who has been “deemed one of the rising stars of her generation.” At this special event, attendees can see the exhibit with the artist and curator available for questions, and at 6:30 there will be an informal discussion.

Comprising nearly thirty works, it showcases the New York–based artist’s large-scale oil-on-canvas portraits of friends, family, and neighbors. Often translated from photographs taken by Casteel, these portraits evoke a sense of casual, familial intimacy. They are almost self-consciously plainspoken. As the exhibition’s title suggests, Casteel’s subjects frequently look directly at the viewer, as if beckoning us to join them. But—more intriguing—many of Casteel’s sitters look past us, as if lost in a worry that we are not invited to share.

Jordan says it was her mother who showed her “how to use your voice actively in the world.” [Jordan’s mother Lauren, who is president and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado. Her maternal grandfather is Whitney Young, president of the National Urban League during the 60s.] It was her mother who encouraged her to apply to the best art graduate program, telling Jordan she would reimburse the $100 application fee if she didn’t get accepted. As painter in the humanist tradition, Jordan uses portraiture to lend presence and dignity to the overlooked, coming to know her subjects and serving as their advocate.

The shop will be closed. You can purchase the catalog online. In the comments section, add : “Please hold for Yale tour on 3.20”  They will be distributed at the viewing. If you order online and don’t add the comment, it will be shipped to your address.

After the viewing, those interested can gathering at a nearby establishment to-be-determined. The event and admission are free, but you must RSVP: steph@artscribe.net  Jordan is looking forward to meeting with alumni, and turnout is expected to be high. So don’t miss this major art show with the opportunity of meeting the artist.

Jordan Casteel, Charles (2016); Photographs courtesy of the Denver Art Museum

The oil and digital paintings of past CYA president John Boak are available for viewing in a one-person show at 808 Projects, Denver, beginning First Friday, March 1st. The official opening is the following Friday, March 8th, from 5 to 8 pm.  Yalies will certainly want to celebrate with John that evening. If you plan to attend you might let him know: johnboak@boakart.com. On Sunday, March 24th, starting at 3:00 pm, you can join fellow alumni and John for a discussion, a Colorado Yale Association and a Yale Alumni Art League event. Please RSVP to Stephanie Grilli: steph@artscribe.net

John brings forth the flux of life by freezing movement with his camera. By moving his camera, he creates indistinct imagery in which light effects form otherworldly spaces and abstract designs. “His recent oil paintings explore the position of the photograph in our perception of ‘real’ images. His use of paint to render his blurred source photos creates a realism of the unconscious.” Working over a period of time, John moves away from the captured moment, when he makes his initial drawing on a surface. Adherence to the photograph or what it depicts slips away, as he applies pigment and develops the painterly relationships that emerge. His digital paintings “use photographic focus, along with brushwork to join disparate imagery and to release the viewer from the photographic sense of a specific place in the world of things.”

John Boak, Shimokitazawa (2018)