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A portrait of a man with a pale complexion sitting in front of a light grey background. He has short, cropped brown hair, and wears a blue silk button-down shirt.

Photo by Alexander Rotondo.

Artists

Jordan Nassar

He // Him // His

Multidisciplinary Artist

New York, New York

For years I've focused on Palestinian embroidery, being that it's such an emblematic Palestinian cultural export, and I consider it the center of my practice. That being said, in the past year I've endeavored to expand the materials I work with, turning to other, maybe lesser-known Palestinian and Levantine craft practices for inspiration. I currently have been developing works using three different, new media: metalwork covered with handmade glass-beads, a technique practiced in Hebron, Palestine; wooden objects inlaid with brass, mother of pearl, and various woods, a technique employed across the Levant; and basket weaving using wheat, which is found in Palestine and throughout the Levant. The widening of my scope across other crafts than embroidery has been exciting, enlightening, and has solidified my commitment to craftsmanship and learning the cultural traditions of my ancestors.”

Jordan Nassar (b. 1985, New York) creates hand-embroidered pieces that address the intersection of craft, ethnicity, and the embedded notions of heritage and homeland. Treating traditional craft more as medium than topic, Nassar examines conflicting issues of identity and cultural participation, using geometric patterning adapted from symbols and motifs present in traditional Palestinian hand embroidery. Meticulously hand stitching colorful compositions across carefully mapped-out patterns, he roots his practice in a geopolitical field of play characterized by both conflict and unspoken harmony.

His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at institutions including the Orlando Museum of Art; Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; Princeton University Art Museum; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; and the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York. Recent notable exhibitions include Making Knowing: craft in Art, 1950–2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Asia Society Triennial “We Do Not Dream Alone” in New York, and The Field Is Infinite, a solo exhibition at KMAC Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Nassar is represented by James Cohan, New York; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles; and The Third Line, Dubai.

Donor -This award was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 07.12.2024

A rectangular piece comprised of colorful diamond shapes. The background of the image is visually split in two, with the right half of the image patterned yellow and light green and the left half of the image blue and dark green. In the center of the image, the diamond shapes become multi-colored to create the image of a mountain peak with blues, greens, yellows, and pinks.

Jordan Nassar. A Yellow World A Blue Sun, 2020. Hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, dimensions 33.5 × 55 inches.

Photo by Phoebe d'Heurle; courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles; and The Third Line, Dubai.

An image in four panels. Each panel uses abstract geometric shapes to create a graphic image of a mountain range. The shift in pattern and color in each panel give the illusion of the passage of time from day to night.

Jordan Nassar. Al-Fasul Al-Arba’a (The Four Seasons), 2021. Hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, dimensions 17.5 ×  40.5 inches.

Photo by Shark Senesac; courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles; and The Third Line, Dubai.

A free-standing screen covered in small circular beads. The rich blues, greens, and yellows of the stones create the image of a mountain peak.

Jordan Nassar. Bab Al-Amoud (Gate of the Pillar), 2020. Hand-flamed glass beads, steel, wire, dimensions 12 × 29 × 10 inches.

Photo by Phoebe d'Heurle; courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, and The Third Line, Dubai.