Photograph by Jonathan Matthey
Jordan Rountree (b.1990, Paris, France) is a performance artist who uses Surrealist literary techniques to produce texts, radio art and music, illustrations, woodcuts, painted objects, and video and light installations. His work explores the edges of performance itself, dependence on social masks, and feelings of severance from nature.
He started working on the public stage at the age of eleven, first on the Parisian theater boat la Péniche Opéra, then in museums, galleries, and nightclubs throughout his teenage years. While studying in high school in Japan, Rountree attended Noh performances for the first time and later based his practice on this form, embracing its minimalist style and use of drama, music, and dance.
Rountree has since performed in national theaters and avant-garde spaces in Europe, including the Théâtre de la Bastille, the Pompidou Center, and the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris, as well as the Ballhaus Ost in Berlin. He has directed workshops at the Espace Van Gogh in Arles and been a resident artist at the Château Orquevaux where he was awarded the Denis Diderot grant.
Jordan Rountree is represented by Baert Gallery and based in Los Angeles.