Jordan Nassar
Fog Is Pouring Over History, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 25.5″ x 19.5″, 2018
You Confused My Heart, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 12″ x 34″, 2018
Far Over the Sea, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 19″ x 22″, 2018
They Reminded Me, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 19″ x 34″, 2018
Dry Wood Is Going to Feed Fires, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 15.5″ x 11″, 2018
The Future With Longing, hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, 22″ x 22″, 2018
Artist Statement
My work addresses the intersection of craft, language, history, (geo)politics, and technology. A Palestinian-American profoundly affected by the intricacies of identity and cultural participation, I treat traditional craft more as medium than topic to examine such subjects as cultural heritage, ownership, exchange, and absorption; symbology, codes, and language systems; superstition and religious belief; post-Internet visual language; and representational and geometric abstraction.
The geometric patterning I use is adapted from Islamic symbols present in traditional Palestinian hand embroidery. I generate these symbols via computer and then meticulously hand-stitch them onto carefully mapped-out patterns. In the enmeshing and encoding of these symbols within my work, I root my practice in a linguistic and geopolitical field of play characterized by both conflict and unspoken harmony.
About the Artist
Born in New York City, where he lives and works, Jordan Nassar is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont.
Since 2014, when he was part of a group exhibition at June Snow in London, United Kingdom, Jordan Nassar has shown his work in cities around the world, including Berlin, Germany; London; and Toronto, Canada. In the United States, he has had solo or two-person shows in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago and has participated in group shows in Chicago, Los Angeles Miami, New York City, and San Francisco. In 2019, he plans to show his work in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
In addition to artist residencies in Tel Aviv and New York City, Jordan Nassar has been the subject of numerous articles, including, in 2018, features in American Craft, ArtNews, Wall Street Journal, OUT, The Guardian, Vogue, The Art Newspaper, and Cultured. His self-published artist books include A Whole New World, We Were Here First, Bellevue, Any Other Rose, and Messenger of the Gods (all 2016).
Jordan Nassar is represented by Anat Ebgi in Los Angeles, California.
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