GEORGE KEVIN JORDAN
UNDER OPEN SKY (Part I)
MAY 17 - JULY 11, 2026
The Nicholson Project presents UNDER OPEN SKY (Part I), a solo exhibition by our 2025 inaugural Local Artist Studio Resident (LASR), George Kevin Jordan. UNDER OPEN SKY (Part I) explores Black and Black queer presence within wide-open landscapes—spaces historically tied to freedom, exclusion, memory, and survival. Through narrative portraiture, symbolic animals, and expansive environments, the work considers how the outdoors can function as both refuge and confrontation.
The exhibition unfolds as a series of encounters: figures in quiet reflection, bodies in motion, and presences that challenge who is seen—and who has been erased—in natural spaces. Animals, plants, and trees emerge as emblems of instinct, power, and protection, while the landscapes themselves shift between invitation and unease.
We move with these figures through moments of ease and joy—farming, hiking, swimming, resting, gathering—in spaces that were once unwelcoming or inaccessible. These figures are both historical and contemporary: people who fought for their land and continue to protect and sustain it. They also hold space for future generations of Black and Black queer people seeking connection, belonging, and presence within these environments.
The work draws from lineages that have shaped Black relationships to the land—from Buffalo Soldiers and early forest rangers to homesteaders—tracing a continuum of resilience, stewardship, and care.
Together, these works ask: What does it mean to be fully visible under an open sky? And how do Black and Black queer lives reclaim space, legacy, and belonging in environments that have not always welcomed them?
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Thank you to Jarvis DuBois for providing curatorial support on this exhibition.
About George Kevin Jordan:
George Kevin Jordan is a multidisciplinary artist, author, illustrator, and maker based in Washington, D.C. Working primarily in acrylic, his practice combines bold, graphic forms with layered narrative. Drawing from the visual language of 1980s and 1990s pop culture—including anime, comics, and music—his work explores identity, memory, and imagination through a contemporary lens.
Jordan was a Digital Resident at The Nicholson Project in 2024 and, in 2025, the inaugural Local Artist Studio Resident. His work centers Black and Black queer figures, creating space for viewers to project their own realities while engaging themes of nature, belonging, and self-definition.
Interested in becoming our next artist-in-residence?