CHUCK CLOSE

1940 to PRESENT

Self Portrait 2000, Acrylic on canvas.

EARLY LIFEBorn in Monroe, WashingtonFather died when he was elevenProsopagnosia (face blindness)Went to the University of Washington in Seattle for his BFAGraduated with a MFA from Yale University in 1964

Mark (1978 - 1979), Acrylic on canvas.

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

LATER LIFE

Lived in Europe for a whileWon the Fulbright grant & National Medal of ArtsReturned to the U.S. and worked as a professor for the University of Massachusetts1988 he was paralyzed when his spinal artery collapsed

Lucas (1986 - 1987), Oil and pencil on canvas.

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“If you impose a limit to not do something you've done before, it will push you to where you've never gone before.“

Chuck Close (1967)

StylePhotorealist/ hyperrealist1967 he decided to go in a new direction: cells consisting of different colorsLater he moved to a more topograpgic style of paintingHas tried many different types of media

Kate, 2007Jacquard tapestry

103 x 79 in. Edition of 10

Brad, 2009Jacquard tapestry

104 x 78 in. Edition of 10

Big Self Portrait, (1967 – 1968)

Acrylic on canvas.

Emma, (2002)

Woodcut print.

DESCRIPTION

This is a picture of a baby. It is distorted and put on a

grid.

ANALYSIS

This is a picture uses color to depict the baby. It

also uses shape and pattern with its grid.

Interpretation

This is a picture uses color very well; each

square is made up of a few major colors creating

and overall hue. This design is very intelligent

in it’s use of different organic forms with in the

grid pattern.

Judgment

While this is not my favorite Chuck Close

piece, it demonstrates Close’s knowledge of

capturing an image. It is successful in all regards of his goal: to abstract a picture of a baby in a way that is both recognizable

from far away and visually transformed up close.

Chuck Close went to which prestigious school for his Masters of Fine Arts degree?

A. YaleB. HarvardC. Cornell

Chuck Close was a part of which movement?

A. SurrealismB. SuperrealismC. Dada

Chuck Close suffers from which mental disorder?

A. Bipolar disorderB. DepressionC. Prosopagnosia

Chuck Close draws his inspiration from his need to try new media and techniques. This means his knowledge of art is always expanding. Almost all of his works are of faces, incidentally Close can not recognize faces. Therefore it can be concluded that he uses his art as his own type of therapy – creating art of people to help him learn their faces.

As a hyperrealist Close focused on color and form, depicting everything

exactly as he saw it. His technique with a brush had gain him wide acclaim, but he didn’t stop there. Close threw away all of his tools and began to paint using the colors and forms which he had studied in school. He discover the technique of using grids and abstracted color to create an image that gained realistic qualities when viewed further away.

His most recent works have been collaborations with other artists and developed on the idea of using small patches of color to make an image.