Jordan Casteel at Denver Art Museum

This young woman's show impressed me. Her vision and execution are powerful. The quote at the entrance to her show says:
"The question for me is, what does it mean to be a part of a community? What does it mean to really open myself up, to be vulnerable enough to stop and say hello?"
This exhibit is called Returning the Gaze. It is a look into the heart of soul of the black community in Harlem. She is not from Harlem. She went to Yale. But she discovered that introducing herself and the project she had in mind to complete strangers on the street went exceedingly well. Once one person agreed to be a model for her (she photographed them to paint later), that person inevitably led to another introduction and the domino effect.
Here are a few of the portraits that caught my eye to hopefully entice you to get down to see the show before it leaves.
These first two paintings are, if I remember correctly, the only paintings with the subject not looking straight at you. She has a strong sense of composition and graphic quality to her work.

Jordon's Mother, a tender portrait

another moving scene

There is a room in the exhibit where she is wanting to show the vulnerability of the black man who are often portrayed as violent criminals. Instead they are all naked and posed in rooms and poses of their own choosing. This is an example of the tenderness with which she treats them.

And then, returning the gaze...

Have to love the red slippers!