Gowanus Artist Jordan Nassar Conveys Longing in Landscapes With Palestinian Motifs

The Gowanus-based artist Jordan Nassar’s richly detailed landscapes offer colorful, imaginative terrain that, although beautiful at first glance, reveal greater depths the more you look at them. But unlike most landscape artists, his chosen medium isn’t painting or photography — it’s hand embroidery.

The process brings Nassar back to his roots. Palestinian-American, born and raised in New York, he uses traditional Palestinian motifs in his compositions to convey a sense of longing. As he has perfected the craft, his pieces have become more complex and conceptual. More recently, he has collaborated with Palestinian women who practice tatreez embroidery, which has become central to his work (he has even started creating clothing that features these designs).

After solo shows in 2016 and 2017, Nassar was featured at the Frieze New York art fair in 2018, sparking a greater following. Earlier this year, he showed in Dubai, at a group show at the James Cohan Gallery in Manhattan called “Borders,” and in the third BRIC Biennial, which focused on artists based in south Brooklyn.

[Images courtesy Jordan Nassar and Anat Ebgi]

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Brownstoner magazine.

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