Nandi Jordan is a multi-disciplinary artist interested in exposing the complexities and contradictions in her everyday Black life.
Trained as a sociologist and self-taught as an artist, Nandi’s work weaves the personal with the cultural and historical, creating thought-provoking juxtapositions of image and text. She found her way to art and media while earning her doctorate in sociology, often repurposing seminal texts and personal images as a way of finding her own visual language.
Her works on paper use both personal and found images alongside book pages to interrogate her own life experiences within the context of the broader Black experience. Her film work explores the boundaries between ethnographic research, social justice and nonfiction storytelling.
She is currently developing digital works and installations that explore the intersection of Black popular culture, knowledge production and digital archives.
Nandi has Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University and a B.A. in Economics from Emory University.
She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and two children.
Photography by Amber Valley Evangelista
CV
Education
PhD, Sociology, New York University, NYC, 2013
MA, Sociology, New York University, NYC, 2008
BA, Economics, Emory University, ATL, GA, 2002
Grants & Fellowships
THE OTHER ART FAIR, LOS ANGELES / New Futures Grant Recipient, Sept 2024
CENTER FOR CULTURAL INNOVATION / Professional Development ‘Quick’ Grant, July 2023
ZEAL RESIDENCY / Artist Studio Incubator Resident (Inglewood, CA), Oct 2021 - Jan 2022
MELLON, ACLS PUBLIC FELLOW / Digital Content Creator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LA), Aug 2016 - June 2018
Exhibitions
GRIFFIN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition (Chicago, IL), January 2025
411 GALLERY
UNDERCURRENTS (Columbus, IN), June 2024
WA NA WARI
Group Show (Seattle, WA), April 2024
THE EBELL OF LOS ANGELES
A Woman’s Place (LA), curated by Shana Nys Dambrot, Taylor Bythewood-Porter and Amy Scott, March 2024
GRIFFIN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition (Chicago, IL), January 2024
RESIDENCY: PROJECT SPACE
In the midst of the imagined, curated by Auttrianna Ward (Inglewood, CA), May 2023
GORMLEY GALLERY, Notre Dame of Maryland University
The 34th National Drawing & Print Exhibition, curated by Teri Henderson (Baltimore, MD), March 2023
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF DALLAS
The 27th Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Competition and Exhibition (Dallas, TX), Dec 2022
RESIDENCY ART GALLERY
ZEAL Open Studio Show (Inglewood, CA), May 2022
SoLA CONTEMPORARY
Fresh 2021, curated by Anuradha Vikram (LA), August 2021
BLACKBIRD HOUSE
Group Exhibition, curated by Autumn Breon (LA), December 2021
Commissions
Mama's Vote, hand cut paper collage printed on vinyl, temporary mural in South LA, 80 in. x 50 in., made possible by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, with support from Community Partners, 2024
Untitled, Hand cut paper collage, digitized and printed on canvas backdrop, 96” x 144”, installed at Milk Studios Hollywood for Ebony Power 100 Awards and Gala; Project Partners: Ebony Magazine + Idlewild Experiential, 2022
George Washington Turner and His Ohio Beauty, digital collage, Black Teacher Lineage Documentary Film (working title), Director: Dr. Dale Allender, Sacramento State University, 2022
Relevant Professional Experience
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
Media Production June 2018 - Current, LA, CA
ROGER ROSS WILLIAMS PROD.
Archival Researcher, August 2017 - February 2018, LA, CA
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE
New Frontier Lab Consultant, January 2016 - June 2016, LA, CA
SELF EMPLOYED
Qualitative Research Consultant, January 2008 - March 2015, LA, CA