Jordan Casteel: What to See During London Gallery Weekend 2025 Critic's Guide

By Thomas McMullan

Jordan Casteel often begins her vast portraits by painting the canvas a singular field of colour, using this to set what she describes as an ‘aura’ for the figures that follow. In the case of Elizabeth and Roman II (2025), the centrepiece of this show at Thaddaeus Ropac, the aura is electric pink. It imbues almost all aspects of the scene – from the lips of the mother to the hair of the child she carries, through the garden that surrounds them. The thick coats the pair wear, alongside the buds on the trees, suggest spring is on its way. This blooming is pitched against two others: a bouquet captured on an orange seat (Subway Bouquet, 2025) and the quieter image Iris (2024) painted en plein air in the artist’s garden.