0:00:00.700,0:00:03.740 [New York Close Up] 0:00:04.020,0:00:08.600 ["Jordan Casteel Paints Her Community"] 0:00:11.780,0:00:12.420 [JORDAN CASTEEL] Hi there. 0:00:12.420,0:00:13.420 Do you remember me? 0:00:14.380,0:00:15.580 Do you know where Harold is? 0:00:15.580,0:00:16.320 Have you seen… 0:00:16.320,0:00:16.920 Harold? 0:00:16.920,0:00:18.460 Do you remember that I painted him? 0:00:19.760,0:00:21.840 I wanted to show him the painting. 0:00:22.640,0:00:25.480 I gave him my stuff[br]so he could get in contact with me, 0:00:25.480,0:00:27.100 but I haven't seen him back out here. 0:00:27.100,0:00:29.020 [MAN] I haven’t seen him in a while. 0:00:29.020,0:00:31.020 [CASTEEL] Okay, if I ever saw him then... 0:00:31.020,0:00:32.580 [MAN] I haven’t seen him in about a year. 0:00:32.580,0:00:34.060 [CASTEEL] I can email or text it to him. 0:00:34.140,0:00:35.800 This is like seven foot tall, too. 0:00:35.800,0:00:36.480 It's big. 0:00:41.660,0:00:43.100 Get kind of close to your dad. 0:00:43.110,0:00:44.110 Get like right here. 0:00:44.110,0:00:45.110 Because this is your dad? 0:00:45.110,0:00:46.110 Or that’s your dad? 0:00:46.110,0:00:47.260 Yeah! I love it. 0:00:47.260,0:00:48.640 Now I see it. That's so good. 0:00:48.640,0:00:49.140 [MAN] Thank you. 0:00:49.140,0:00:50.240 [CASTEEL] Yeah, come right here. 0:00:50.240,0:00:51.240 I want you close to this middle one. 0:00:52.680,0:00:53.680 [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS] 0:00:54.420,0:00:56.240 Will you put this leg in a little bit? 0:00:56.240,0:00:56.820 Yeah! 0:00:56.820,0:00:58.560 I’m just thinking about my canvas. 0:01:01.440,0:01:02.340 Yeah, that's perfect. 0:01:02.340,0:01:03.760 [MAN] Thank you.[br][CASTEEL] Look. 0:01:07.680,0:01:10.180 [MAN] Oh yeah, that’s lovely. 0:01:11.940,0:01:14.380 [CASTEEL] The summer between my first and[br]second year at Yale, 0:01:14.380,0:01:18.110 I was awarded a grant to get[br]ten thousand dollars 0:01:18.110,0:01:22.740 and to go to Gloucester, Massachusetts[br]to do landscape painting. 0:01:23.840,0:01:25.000 During that time, 0:01:25.009,0:01:28.659 there was the acquittal of[br]the murderer of Trayvon Martin. 0:01:28.659,0:01:30.930 Gloucester is a very white place, 0:01:30.930,0:01:33.670 as in I was probably the only brown person[br]for miles. 0:01:33.670,0:01:38.380 So like, there was a sense of isolation[br]that I was sort of feeling around that experience. 0:01:40.240,0:01:43.600 [Home of Jordan’s Aunt] 0:01:45.860,0:01:46.940 I remember 0:01:46.950,0:01:49.399 having a phone conversation with my twin brother. 0:01:49.399,0:01:52.460 My twin was describing being[br]in a convenience store 0:01:52.460,0:01:53.850 and somebody was following him, 0:01:53.850,0:01:55.919 and he was kind of going on this rant, like, 0:01:55.919,0:01:57.969 "You know, people follow me like I'm a threat," 0:01:57.969,0:01:59.790 "but they don’t even know that I'm a father" 0:01:59.790,0:02:02.009 "and I'm, like, trying to get my shit together." 0:02:02.009,0:02:03.329 "They don't know anything about me," 0:02:03.329,0:02:04.520 "I'm just the one who's, like," 0:02:04.520,0:02:07.060 "going to steal something or whatever." 0:02:07.060,0:02:08.849 I think I felt at that time 0:02:08.849,0:02:10.759 that I needed to go back to Yale 0:02:10.759,0:02:13.680 and do work outside of landscapes-- 0:02:13.680,0:02:16.430 that I needed to find a way to combine 0:02:16.430,0:02:19.489 my desire to create a sense of[br]visibility around 0:02:19.489,0:02:23.440 my family and my brothers that was feeling[br]absent at that time. 0:02:24.040,0:02:26.160 Let me help you with your ringtone. 0:02:28.040,0:02:28.940 Record it? 0:02:28.940,0:02:30.440 [AUNT] We have to record it. 0:02:31.100,0:02:34.320 Go in the settings and see how you do that. 0:02:35.240,0:02:38.460 [SINGING][br]♪ Trump is our enemy. ♪ 0:02:38.460,0:02:40.940 ♪ He must be removed ♪ 0:02:41.840,0:02:45.000 ♪ Trump is our enemy. ♪ 0:02:45.000,0:02:47.160 ♪ He must be removed. ♪ 0:02:47.180,0:02:55.420 ♪ Just like a can of garbage in the alley, ♪ 0:02:55.420,0:02:59.920 ♪ he must be removed. ♪ 0:03:01.460,0:03:02.060 Yeah! 0:03:02.480,0:03:03.880 [CASTEEL] Okay now we got to test it out, 0:03:03.880,0:03:04.880 But I think I did it! 0:03:04.880,0:03:05.880 Okay. 0:03:05.880,0:03:07.300 [AUNT] Okay, and then you call me, 0:03:07.300,0:03:09.100 and let's see if this works. 0:03:09.180,0:03:13.160 [FROM RECORDING][br]♪ He must be removed. ♪ 0:03:13.160,0:03:14.120 [LAUGHS] 0:03:14.120,0:03:15.980 [CASTEEL] Everytime the phone rings,[br]that's now what it is! 0:03:17.540,0:03:19.240 So I came back to Yale and was like, 0:03:19.900,0:03:23.180 "I am going to paint my black men" 0:03:23.180,0:03:26.700 "Imma do this thing about my family, basically." 0:03:45.940,0:03:48.510 Nine times out of ten, people think that[br]I am a man 0:03:48.510,0:03:49.870 before they meet me. 0:03:49.870,0:03:50.870 Even though, like… 0:03:50.870,0:03:53.640 Yeah, because my name is Jordan[br]and I'm painting men. 0:03:53.640,0:03:55.260 So even at my own openings, 0:03:55.260,0:03:56.370 the number of times that my mother… 0:03:56.370,0:03:58.500 I hear my mother across a room being like, 0:03:58.500,0:03:59.500 "SHE's over there!" 0:03:59.500,0:04:01.390 And I'm like, "Mom, it's okay." 0:04:01.390,0:04:03.760 And I think a lot of that has to do with [br]historical painting 0:04:03.760,0:04:06.510 and the notion of who has the right 0:04:06.510,0:04:09.020 to depict what bodies at what scale. 0:04:09.020,0:04:10.930 And, I like that. 0:04:10.930,0:04:13.220 I feel really present in this work as a result. 0:04:13.220,0:04:14.440 Like, whenever people… 0:04:14.440,0:04:16.819 There have been some criticisms of:[br]I only paint men. 0:04:16.819,0:04:18.319 And every time people say women are absent, 0:04:18.319,0:04:19.860 or people are like, "When are you going to[br]paint women?" 0:04:19.860,0:04:23.229 I'm like, I don’t know if I feel absence, 0:04:23.229,0:04:25.229 because I’m very much a part of this work, 0:04:25.229,0:04:27.770 and it's translated through my experience. 0:04:27.770,0:04:29.930 So, these nudes happened, 0:04:29.930,0:04:31.210 which was horrifying. 0:04:31.210,0:04:33.270 And I got a lot of criticism, sort of, 0:04:33.270,0:04:35.100 during that time around it. 0:04:35.100,0:04:38.960 Because I was making some pretty[br]intentional and dramatic moves, 0:04:38.960,0:04:40.669 such as not showing the genitalia, 0:04:40.669,0:04:42.419 which was always a thing. 0:04:42.419,0:04:45.939 But I was really interested in humanizing 0:04:45.940,0:04:49.640 in a history that is often[br]criminalized and sexualized. 0:04:49.640,0:04:51.960 So, I didn’t want the black male body 0:04:51.960,0:04:54.820 to be taken advantage of 0:04:54.820,0:04:56.759 any more than historically it has been. 0:04:56.759,0:04:58.939 So that was like a gesture of 0:04:58.940,0:05:00.220 not allowing people to have 0:05:00.220,0:05:02.600 what they felt like they deserved[br]from the body. 0:05:02.860,0:05:04.120 [STUDENT] To consume the body... 0:05:04.120,0:05:05.120 [CASTEEL] Yeah, exactly. 0:05:05.340,0:05:06.160 Yeah, of course. 0:05:06.160,0:05:07.060 Thank you, guys! 0:05:07.060,0:05:09.000 Best of luck to you as well. 0:05:21.220,0:05:23.440 [SOUNDS OF DJEMBE DRUMMING] 0:05:39.800,0:05:41.819 There was some conversation about 0:05:41.819,0:05:44.919 my paintings being surrogates for my brother. 0:05:44.919,0:05:47.469 And it was when that conversation[br]came up that 0:05:47.469,0:05:50.770 I first was like, "Oh, you’re maybe right." 0:05:50.770,0:05:53.240 "Like, maybe I need to go to the source of[br]all of this." 0:05:53.240,0:05:55.880 "Maybe it's time for me to actually paint[br]my twin." 0:05:57.800,0:05:59.140 [RECORDING] One, two, three… 0:05:59.820,0:06:00.880 [MUSIC BEGINS PLAYING] 0:06:01.740,0:06:02.580 [MAN, OFF SCREEN] Turn up! 0:06:02.580,0:06:03.620 [LAUGHTER] 0:06:06.100,0:06:07.720 [CASTEEL] I never heard this song. 0:06:07.720,0:06:08.800 [WOMAN, OFF SCREEN] What!? 0:06:09.640,0:06:10.960 [WOMAN] Oh, we do know this! 0:06:14.800,0:06:16.440 [MAN] The fact that y'all[br]all dancing to this song, 0:06:16.440,0:06:17.640 like it's, like… 0:06:18.600,0:06:19.680 I've never heard this song in my life. 0:06:19.680,0:06:20.360 [ALL LAUGH] 0:06:20.720,0:06:23.520 [MAN]: Let’s get the hottest rappers around[br]right now. 0:06:23.520,0:06:24.600 Lil Yachty! 0:06:24.600,0:06:25.500 [ALL LAUGH] 0:06:25.500,0:06:27.620 [WOMAN] Lil Yachty![br]Oh my God! 0:06:27.620,0:06:28.240 [MAN] See? 0:06:30.520,0:06:31.980 [MAN] I feel like I’m doing like a… 0:06:32.180,0:06:33.780 [WOMAN] Like a belly dance, yes! 0:06:35.100,0:06:37.460 [WOMAN] You have such an emotional connection... 0:06:37.460,0:06:39.800 Like, the moments when you decide to photograph. 0:06:39.800,0:06:42.680 Like, with the twins, like, all of a sudden, 0:06:42.680,0:06:44.500 they're lifted in a way that's like… 0:06:44.500,0:06:45.480 I don’t know how to… 0:06:45.480,0:06:47.500 [CASTEEL] Well that wasn't an intentional[br]photograph. 0:06:47.500,0:06:49.620 Like, I was photographing Charles,[br]the fur guy. 0:06:50.100,0:06:52.360 And this woman pushed her babies in front[br]of my camera 0:06:52.360,0:06:53.760 and was like, "Photograph my babies!" 0:06:53.760,0:06:54.740 [ALL LAUGH] 0:06:54.780,0:06:55.700 [CASTEEL] No, literally. 0:06:55.700,0:06:56.960 And I was like, what? 0:06:56.980,0:06:57.980 Okay? 0:06:58.360,0:07:00.440 And I took one shot.[br]Like it was literally, like, click. 0:07:00.460,0:07:02.460 And I was like, "Oh they're so cute,[br]are they twins?" 0:07:02.460,0:07:03.500 And she was like "Yeah they are," 0:07:03.500,0:07:04.420 and then just like ran off. 0:07:04.430,0:07:05.430 [MAN] Wow… 0:07:05.430,0:07:06.430 [WOMAN] Did you tell her you're a twin? 0:07:06.430,0:07:07.729 [CASTEEL] Yeah, I was like[br]"Oh, I'm a twin too," 0:07:07.729,0:07:09.449 "So maybe I, like, noticed that or something." 0:07:09.449,0:07:10.569 And she was like, “Oh, okay that makes sense," 0:07:10.569,0:07:11.830 And then she kind of, like, ran off. 0:07:11.830,0:07:13.520 [MAN] And have you found her since then? 0:07:13.520,0:07:15.700 [CASTEEL] No! No.[br]I have no idea. 0:07:21.000,0:07:23.860 When we were really young,[br]we were really, really close. 0:07:23.860,0:07:26.620 And then we went to high school,[br]and we were both... 0:07:26.620,0:07:28.000 We went from this all white, 0:07:28.009,0:07:30.509 private middle school[br]from first to eighth grade, 0:07:30.509,0:07:34.500 where we were the only two black kids,[br]basically, in the whole school. 0:07:34.520,0:07:40.260 And we transferred in high school[br]to our local public high school. 0:07:40.260,0:07:43.139 And both of us experienced some bullying, 0:07:43.139,0:07:46.840 I think, because we were coming from[br]a different background 0:07:46.840,0:07:49.280 than a lot of the other students. 0:07:49.280,0:07:51.560 [MAN] It’s like I'm, like,[br]setting it down though. 0:07:51.560,0:07:52.700 [CASTEEL] Yeah! Yeah. 0:07:52.720,0:07:54.560 Well, here, maybe sit in front of it, 0:07:54.560,0:07:56.520 then I can do a close up of y'all sitting[br]in front of it. 0:07:56.520,0:07:57.830 Would that be cool? 0:07:57.830,0:07:58.939 [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS] 0:07:58.939,0:08:00.580 The way that I dealt with that was I made 0:08:00.580,0:08:02.819 cookie cutter peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 0:08:02.819,0:08:05.819 and I would sit outside of[br]my favorite teacher's classroom-- 0:08:05.819,0:08:07.039 on the floor, during lunch-- 0:08:07.039,0:08:09.460 and eat my cookie cutter sandwiches. 0:08:09.460,0:08:11.760 But my twin, on the other hand, 0:08:11.780,0:08:14.300 was bullied more physically. 0:08:14.300,0:08:16.700 I think he literally had to, like, 0:08:16.700,0:08:18.420 become tougher. 0:08:19.560,0:08:23.340 And a lot of that had to do with[br]societal expectations. 0:08:23.340,0:08:24.220 I only feel like… 0:08:24.220,0:08:26.300 I just, in at least a public sense, 0:08:26.800,0:08:28.340 I get really conscious… 0:08:28.340,0:08:30.560 His story is not mine to tell. 0:08:31.040,0:08:35.500 And I can only speak from the perspective[br]of his sister. 0:08:35.500,0:08:39.200 And somebody who's seen him as[br]this really funny 0:08:39.220,0:08:42.580 sensitive, charismatic,[br]loving young man, 0:08:42.589,0:08:45.960 and recognizing that the world[br]perceives him differently. 0:08:45.960,0:08:50.000 And as a result,[br]this work, I think, really comes from 0:08:50.000,0:08:53.280 my desire to share 0:08:53.300,0:08:55.400 what I have known with the world.