Jordan Rountree (b.1990, Paris FR) is a performance artist who uses Surrealist literary techniques to produce texts, radio art and music, illustrations, woodcuts, painted objects, light and video installations, and performances. His work explores the edges of performance itself, dependence on social masks, and feelings of severance from nature.

He started performing 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. He is also the founder of Films Du Losangeles, an art-house media company.

Jordan Rountree is represented by Baert Gallery and based in Los Angeles.

Link to artist’s CV

PORTFOLIO

CHTHONIC adj. concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld.

ARCHIVE n. a repository or collection, especially of information.

__

CHTHONIC ARCHIVE (pronounced “thaa·nuhk aar·kive”) is an ongoing performance art project and published series. Each piece threads gestural and radio acting into music and soundscapes framed by video installations. Published works document the premieres in texts and images.

CHTHONIC ARCHIVE’s performances fuse the aural intimacy of 1930s American radio dramas with stylized visual idioms inspired by the classic Japanese Noh. Story material is at once personal and archaic: the artist mines mythological terrain for glimpses of himself and his unfolding world.

Visit the CHTHONIC ARCHIVE website

CHTHONIC ARCHIVE (2018-ongoing)

No.1 Epic Fail

106 Studio rooftop, Los Angeles, premiere August 18, 2018

No.2 Falling Man

Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, premiere May 28, 2019

No.3 Orpheus at the Movies

Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, premiere June 23, 2019

No.4 Baby

Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, premiere June 24, 2022

No.5 Hell Mouth

Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, premiere September 16, 2023

© Jordan Rountree Studio, cinematography by Brody S. Anderson

RADIO ART & MUSIC

Radio art pieces, ambient music, minimal trance, and electronic pop tracks from the CHTHONIC ARCHIVE series and other works.

Link to Jordan Rountree on Spotify

LANDSCAPES & SCENES

Stills of video installations of landscapes and scenes from the CHTHONIC ARCHIVE series.

DESKOGRAPHIES

DESKOGRAPHIES is a photo and video series that documents the surfaces of desks and objects used during performances.

FIGURES

FIGURES is a series of minimalistic illustrations that inform the gestural acting in the CHTHONIC ARCHIVE series.

A FIGURE CARVES A PATH THROUGH THE WOODS

A FIGURE CARVES A PATH THROUGH THE WOODS(or Forest Figure) is a series of woodcuts and woodblock prints. The series depicts a figure as it travels on foot through the wilderness.

BACKLIT LEXICON

BACKLIT LEXICON (2020 - ongoing) is a bite-sized, modular novel that includes texts and music. Formally inspired by The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce and the Trinity-writes-to-Neo sequences in The Matrix by the Wachowski siblings.

Link to BACKLIT LEXICON (Jordan Rountree’s Instagram)

BOOKS

Jordan Rountree Studio art books are published by Baert Gallery. They are available for purchase online at baertgallery.com/publications/ and in person at Stories Books and Café in Los Angeles.