Travelling on the subway (or the tube or the metro) has the potential to create a strangely unique sense of intimacy. While most people sit or stand with their earphones in, deliberately avoiding eye contact and conversation, the proximity (extreme proximity if it’s rush hour) means that an occasional flash of intimacy is inevitable, as you catch the eye of the person opposite or hear a snatch of the melody coming from their headphones. Casteel’s paintings of people on the subway capture this intimacy. God Bless the Child, 2019, shows a young child relaxed and entirely lacking self-consciousness as she shares her mother’s seat, draping herself over her mother’s body. The exhibition of Casteel’s work at Casey Kaplan gallery in New York also features portraits of her students from Rutgers University, Newark, capturing a similar sense of familiarity as their chosen environment reveal to us important aspects of their identity. Jordan Casteel’s The Price of Freedom will be shown at Casey Kaplan Gallery until 7 December.
