CHUCK CLOSE

Lori Miller High Tech Learning, 11/22/09

“I am going for a level of perfection that is only mine…Most of the pleasure is in getting the last little piece perfect”

Timeline

1962Earned BFA, University of Washington

Earned MFA, Yale University1964

Work first exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art1973

1970First one man show featured his photorealistic black & white portraits

1980sWork began to loosen, become more abstract

Suffered a spinal artery collapse & became paralyzed 1988

1990sContinued to paint with a brush strapped to his wrist

NY Museum of Modern Art Retrospective 1998

TodayIs a major figure in contemporary art, continues to produce & exhibit work

Born in Monroe, Wisconsin1940

Type of Art

Subject Matter Close is known for his large scale Photorealist

portraits. Friends and family are often the subject of his work.

Media He uses a variety of painting and printmaking media,

including acrylic, oil, watercolor, and silk screen.

Process He is known for using a grid technique to transfer an

image from a photograph to a large canvas.

Photorealism

Chuck Close is most closely associated with Photorealism. This artistic movement is centered in the United States and began in the 1960s. Photorealist painters create images based on photographs, with great attention to detail. The results appear like a photograph. However, his later work has drifted more toward the abstract.

Other Photorealist Painters

Telephone Booths, 1967 Queen, 1976

Richard Estes Audrey Flack

The Art of Chuck Close

Big Self Portrait, 1967-68Acrylic on canvas107 1/2 x 83 1/2“

http://collections.walkerart.org/item/object/77

Leslie, 1973Watercolor on paper72 x 57 “

http://artblart.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/exhibition-picturing-america-photorealism-in-the-1970s-at-deutsche-guggenheim-berlin/

Georgia, 1984Handmade paper56 x 45“

http://www.butlerart.com/pc_book/pages/chuck_close_b.htm

Lucas/Woodcut, 1993Woodcut print46 1/2 x 36”

http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/life/gallery.html

Lyle, 2002silk screen65 1/2 x 53 7/8 in

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Chuck_Close/5.L.htm

Resources

Chuck Close: Process & Collaboration

http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/ Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close MOMA

http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=1156